CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY--The local government of Iligan City and the National Anti-Poverty Commission has (NAPC) signed Friday a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for a five-year poverty alleviation program under the "Sambayanihang Serbisyong Sambayanan (SSS)."
Signatories were NAPC Secretary Noel K. Felongco and Iligan City Mayor Celso Regencia who said the agreement would ensure the convergence of the government’s anti-poverty programs in partnership with LGUs.
“With NAPC at our back, we will not go astray in our resolve to help stamp out poverty,” Regencia said.
NAPC has predicted a steady increase of middle class-dominated cities in Mindanao, including Iligan City, as more local government units have embraced the need for convergent efforts in addressing poverty.
Felongco said the SSS program is in line with the Duterte administration's thrust to reduce poverty incidence in the island to 14% by 2022.
Early last month, the Iligan City government signed a separate MOA with NAPC that would ensure the delivery of government services to informal settlers through the fielding of "Kasambayanihan" volunteers.
Augustus Tapia, NAPC head of operations in Mindanao, said the MOA that Felongco and Regencia signed was the third of its kind in the island, adding that the agency is working at signing five more MOAs for each of the five regions in Mindanao by the end of the year.
The MOA with Iligan City provides guidelines for implementing the SSS program to ensure that informal settlers can access dwelling, livelihood, and employment opportunities.
Government statistics reveal that eight of the 10 provinces in the Philippines where poverty incidence is high are located in Mindanao.
In Northern Mindanao, the province of Lanao del Norte has a poverty incidence of 19 percent as of 2018 compared to 37 percent in 2015. (PNA)
