LEGAZPI CITY “•Poverty incidence among families in Albay dropped by 16.3 percentage points, or from 33.9 percent in 2012 to 17.6 percent in 2015, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.
The 16.3-percent poverty reduction, as shown in PSA’s annual per capita family income threshold, makes Albay the least poor among Bicol’s six provinces.
Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda said the unprecedented unity of purpose among Albayanos accounted for the substantial poverty reduction and would “sustain the record, now only 1.1 percent below the national average of 16.5 percent.”
He said while the national poverty fell by 3.2 percentage points, Albay posted a 16.3-percent drop.
The PSA report shows that in population terms, Albay’s poverty incidence fell 15.8 percentage points, or from 41 percent in 2012 to 25.2 percent in 2015.
The average national poverty reduction in the same period was just 3.6 percentage points, or from 25.2 percent to 21.6 percent. Thus, Salceda said the large family size among poor people remained a challenge.
The PSA report placed Albay among five provinces with best 2012-2015 poverty reduction performance in the country, along with Apayao, Batanes, Eastern Samar and Davao Oriental.
Trailing Albay’s 17.6-percent record in Bicol were Camarines Sur, with 27.15 percent; Masbate, 35.5 percent; Sorsogon, 31.7 percent; Catanduanes, 33.6 percent; and Camarines Norte, 29.3 percent.
Salceda, who was Albay governor for the past nine years before rejoining Congress, where he is now currently senior vice chair of the House ways and means committee, and vice chair of three other committees, pushed hard to elevate the local economy, particularly through tourism, its most potent and promising industry.
He expressed confidence Albay’s tourism would continue to prosper and hit its goal of five million tourists, $1 billion in investments and 235,000 jobs in ten years, or after the completion of the Bicol International Airport in 2019, and faster modern train system to Legazpi by 2023.
Tourism has been at the frontline of Albay’s economic development program. Foreign visitor arrivals in Albay grew from 8,700 in 2006 to 374,949 in 2015.