ILIGAN CITY--The National Anti-Poverty Commission has unveiled seven projects aimed at alleviating poverty in several regions that will be funded by the Philippine Gaming Corporation's (Pagcor) amounting to PHP49 million.
“Modest as the projects are, they will go a long way in helping reduce poverty at the grassroots level,” Secretary Noel K. Felongco told provincial officials in Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte on Thursday.
The projects consisted of compact farming, construction of multi-purpose buildings, and village-linked coconut industry development in seven priority areas-- Majayjay, Laguna; Cebu City; Calbayog City, Samar; Talipao, Sulu; Valladolid, Negros Occidental; Kayapa, Nueva Vizcaya; and in Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte.
Felongco signed a memorandum of agreement with Kauswagan Mayor Rommel C. Arnado that would ensure LGU support to a PHP3 million village-linked coconut industry development prototype.
Meanwhile, Felongco lauded responsive LGUs for their role in helping chip away the poverty incidence in Northern Mindanao, which was reduced from 35.9 percent in 2015 to 25.45 in 2018.
“It is still a long way to go but we are confident we can bring this even lower to 14 percent by 2022,” Felongco said during the launching of the Sambayanihang Serbisyong Sambayanan (SSS) in Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte.
SSS is NAPC’s five-year development plan that seeks to carry out a “climate-responsive, culture and gender-sensitive and convergent and anti-poverty strategy” based on the country’s ultimate goal to bring about a middle-class society by 2040.
He said the passage of Republic Act No. 11291 or the Magna Carta of the Poor showed the administration’s "heart for the poor, the marginalized and the oppressed."
Felongco said the legislation "assures the poor of the right to adequate food, decent work, relevant and quality education, adequate housing and highest attainable standard of living."
He pointed out that based on updated statistics, poverty incidence in Northern Mindanao shrank in Bukidnon from 54.3 percent in 2015 to 32.1 percent in 2018; Camiguin from 40.2 to 23.2; Lanao del Norte from 42.2 to 23.6; Misamis Occidental from 36.9 to 32.4; and Misamis Oriental from 18.4 to 18.5 over the same period. (PNA)
