By CHRIS V. PANGANIBAN
PROSPERIDAD, Agusan del Sur—Agusan del Sur has graduated from the list of Top 20 poorest provinces in the Philippines, according to the latest report of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)-Agusan del Sur.
According to a report by Demetrio Dejolde, Jr., Supervising Statistical Specialist and Officer-in-Charge of PSA Agusan del Sur, the poverty incidence rate among the province’s residents has dropped to 25.9 percent from 39.6 percent in 2021.
This decline in the number of residents living below the poverty threshold has had a significant impact, considering that Agusan del Sur was ranked as the 5th poorest province in the country in the 2021 PSA report.
Dejolde, however, explained that his office does not provide rankings for provinces that have moved out of the “Club 20” but have moved better from Cluster 2 to Cluster 3.
In the summary of his report on the “2023 First Semester Official Poverty Statistics of Agusan del Sur,” Dejolde revealed that for a family of five, a total of 48,000 families or 264,940 individuals or 25.9 of the province’s 739,367 population, are living below the poverty line.
Moreover, 17,000 families, or nine percent of the province’s population, are living below the P8,333 food threshold, which represents the minimum income for a family to meet basic food needs that satisfy nutritional requirements for economically necessary and socially desirable physical activities.
The latest PSA results indicate a significant improvement in lowering the poverty incidence in the province compared to the 2021 results, which showed that 358,030 individuals, or 39.6 percent, were living below the poverty line.
Dejolde attributed the decline in the number of poor residents in the province to the generation of more employment opportunities and increased entrepreneurial activities in agriculture.
A related PSA report posted on the Philippine News Agency website on January 24 of this year, revealed that the economies of Agusan del Sur and Agusan del Norte provinces experienced growth in 2022.
According to the PSA-Region 13 report, Agusan del Sur saw a 6.8 percent growth in its economy during the year, while Agusan del Norte recorded a 3.7 percent economic growth.
The main drivers of Agusan del Sur’s economic surge were agriculture, forestry, and fishing, which accounted for 19.0 percent of the growth, followed by manufacturing at 13.8 percent, and financial and insurance activities at 12.8 percent.
The per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of Agusan del Sur also grew by 5.9 percent to P99,387, compared to PHP93,820 in 2021.
“This achievement signifies our substantial progress in reducing the number of people living below the poverty line,” stated Gov. Santiago Cane Jr. during an interview with local reporters at his office.
“The decrease in poverty within the province has motivated provincial, municipal, and barangay officials to redouble our efforts in improving the living conditions of our constituents,” he added.
