UNDP report shows glaring devt disparity among PHL provinces

(Updated 12 p.m., July 30, 2013) Development among the country's provinces remain largely unequal, with those in Mindanao lagging behind peers in Luzon, according to the United Nation Development Programme's (UNDP) 2012/2013 Philippine Human Development Report (PHDR) released Monday. 

 

The disparity highlights the need to custom fit programs and the use of budgets to the needs of specific provinces, experts at the PHDR's launch said. 

 

Results of the PHDR—which measures each province's Human Development Index (HDI)—showed Benguet as the province with the highest HDI of 0.849, followed by Batanes with 0.789 and Rizal with 0.734.

 

Cavite with an index of 0.709, Bulacan with 0.699, Bataan with 0.698, Laguna with 0.695, Nueva Vizcaya with 0.678, Ilocos Norte with 0.641, and Pampanga with 0.634 were among the Top 10. 

 

Sulu was the province with the lowest HDI of 0.266, trailing Maguindanao with 0.3 and Tawi-Tawi with 0.31. 

 

Agusan del Sur with an HDI of 0.354, Davao Oriental with 0.356, Sarangani with 0.371, Zamboanga del Norte 0.384, Masbate 0.406, and Lanao del Sur with 0.416 rounded up the bottom 10. 

 

Metro Manila—which was excluded from the rankings—had an HDI of 0.805, while the Philippines as a whole notched 0.654. 

 

The HDI is a summary measure of human development largely based on three factors—long and healthy life, knowledge, and decent standard of living. Ideally, the HDI should be close to 1. 

 

The recent PHDR used the latest household data from 2009 and is not comparable to previous reports due to statistical nuances. 

Economic integration

  

At the report's launch in Crowne Plaza Hotel in Mandaluyong City, University of the Philippines economist and Human Development Network coordinator Toby Melissa Monsod said, “The aim of economic integration is to reduce the distance of people, especially the poor, to economic opportunities wherever they may be found.”

 

Monsod noted the need to “restructure” national government agencies toward integration efforts at local levels and subjecting funds to provincial government control.

For example, health and education spending and programs should be different across provinces, depending on the needs and culture of specific areas. 

 

In terms of budget, Department of Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Austere Panadero agreed that a review of the Local Government Code—where the distribution of tax collections to the local level are based—is needed.

 

But Panadero said at the same event the Aquino administration “is now reversing centrally determined norms for planning and budgeting to take into account the priority needs from down below,” referring to the Budget Department's “Bottom-up budgeting” scheme under which appropriations take into account the poverty reduction plans of 600 of the country's poorest municipalities.

Community-determined projects like agriculture and fisheries support, potable water supply, basic education and public health care were underscored in each municipalities' road maps. 

 

For his part, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said, “We are doing quite well on the economic front but not so well in the other sectors like development. 

 

“The updating of the PDP (Philippines Development Plan) is an opportunity for us... to enable us to push for a more inclusive development. For growth to be inclusive, we need to put into our strategy spatial projection to our plan,” he added. 

 

In updating the Philippine Development Plan 2011-2016, economic managers have consulted regional stakeholders to ensure that economic initiatives will be felt at the grassroots. The Aquino administration's economic team has vowed to focus on creating jobs at local level to address poverty.  — VS/HS, GMA News