PSA shows Corella with

least poverty incidence

TAGBILARAN CITY Bohol (PIA)—It may not be the richest town, but a standard parameter for poverty estimates in towns and cities, when applied here shows that Corella, with only 9.8 percent of its population living below the national poverty threshold, has the least incidence of poverty in Bohol

It could be its size, population and geographical location all together contributing, because the town, being the second least populous, fifth from the smallest, and its proximity to the city all contribute to the feat that makes the town stand out.

According to the data shared by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in their 2018, 2021 and 2023 City and Municipal level Poverty Estimates in Bohol, among the 26 towns and Tagbilaran City in Bohol with less than 20 percent of its population living below the poverty sthreshold, Corella topped with the least population living under ₱30,981, or the annual per capita poverty threshold in the country.

In 2018, however, when the annual per capital poverty threshold was P26,108.00, Tagbilaran City held on to the distinction with only 3.4% of its residents living sub poverty threshold.

With Tagbilaran City were 19 towns having less than 20 percent of its populations still battling to live under the poverty threshold, according to the PSA data.

The PSA used a popular World Bank tool called the Small Area Estimation (SAE) in determining city and municipal level poverty estimates from compiled data as basis.

The SAE estimate used the 2020 Census of Population and Housing (CPH); the consolidated datasets of the 2023 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) and the January 2024 Labor Force Survey (LFS) data.

SAE also incorporated as its data the 2023 Updating of the List of Establishments (ULE); and other useful resources including data like the 2023 Nighttime Lights as compiled by Earth Observation Group in Colorado School of Mines.

The same SAE also classified poverty incidence as Level 1: with 0% to 20.0% of its population living sub poverty threshold; Level 2 when 20.1% to 40.0 percent of its population still survives below the national poverty threshold; and Level 3 when 40.1 % to 60.0 % of its population is still below poverty threshold.

By then, Corella sat second to Tagbilaran with 10.1% of its population living under the poverty line.

In 2021, Tagbilaran City continued to top Bohol’s least poverty incidence, followed by Baclayon and then Corella.

The SAE in 2021 would show that from 19 towns in 2018 which are already in Level 1, it shrunk to 13.

The remaining 35 towns had over 20% of its populations living below the poverty threshold, all brought about by job disruptions, production losses, slow economic activities and shut donws of several business establishments.

In that same SAE, 10 of 15 towns in the first district attained Level 1, 5 towns had 20% or more of its residents still wrestling with poverty.

Although the study also showed no towns in the second district in Level 1 and no towns in Level 3 or half of its resident population surviving under poverty threshold, over 35% of populations in Bien Unido, Getafe and President Carlos P Garcia were still below poverty threshold.

In the third district, three towns made it to Level 1, 16 towns had over 20% of its populations still considered poor,

Bohol towns could have attained a much lower poverty incidence, had the economy not been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

By 2022, when Governor Erico Aristotle Aumentado assumed to lead Bohol, among his first official acts on the day of his inauguration was to prop up business confidence with an investment support executive order and meeting the business sector.

Then, he pushed for aggressive agriculture support, local energy development and eco-cultural tourism that is anchored on Bohol as a global geopark.

With Bohol’s island barangays clearly left far from government social services, the administration looked into building potable water and renewable power infrastructure, as a stepping stone for the locals to improve their lives.

Despite staking for a more responsible tourism which has earned the ire of stakeholders who have long been cashing in on their unsustainable methods and practices, Bohol still continues to attract the more responsible tourists that grew tourism revenues for the island province.

To these, in 2023, the PSA SEA shows top ten towns with the lowest poverty incidence as the following: 1. Corella at 9.8%, 2 Tagbilaran City with 10.2%, 3. Baclayon with 11.0%, 4. Sikatuna with 12.1 percent, 5. Antequera with 14.2 %, 6. Cortes with 14.5%, 7. Alburquerque with 15.6%, 8. Loboc with 15.9% and 9. Jagna and Tubigon with both 16.8%.

District 1 showed better ranking when less than 20% of each town populations 1 lived below poverty.

District 2 had 12 towns in Level 2 and two towns: Clarin and Sagbayan now into Level 1.

Of District 3’s 19 towns, 9 towns are now having Level 1 poor families while the remaining 10 towns still have over 20% and less than 40% living under the poverty thresholds. (PIAbohol)