Copra workers remove coconut meat from the shells for drying in a makeshift smokehouse along the Gingoog-Claveria Road in Misamis Oriental. Starting 2024, the Misamis Oriental provincial government will embark on an ambitious plan to bring down the poverty incidence in the province from 18.1 percent to single digit level. | PHOTO: BOBBY LAGSA
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY 鈥� The Misamis Oriental government plans to reduce the poverty incidence in the province from the 18.1 per cent reported by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in the first quarter last year to single-digit level this year, Gov. Peter Unabia said in his first state of the province address (Sopa) on Friday, Jan. 12.
鈥淥ur vision for Misamis Oriental includes a comprehensive approach, focusing on bringing down the poverty incidence to a single digit level,鈥� he said.
鈥淓ducation, health, infrastructure, livelihood and community development is our main focus.鈥�
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)鈥檚 preliminary official poverty statistics in the first quarter of 2023, placed the poverty incidence in the province at 18.1 percent.
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To address poverty, the provincial government needed to raise the income of its constituents by providing them with multifaceted interventions and initiatives through a whole-of-society approach, Unabia said.
The Provincial Council had passed the P5.31 billion budget this year to support the province鈥檚 thrust, he added.
The provincial government has also inked a partnership deal with the Indonesian government to modernize its rice and corn production sector by using advanced technologies.
Unabia also said the government had been holding talks with China, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea for employment opportunities for skilled workers in the province.
READ: Ending poverty: 鈥楻eal test of good governance鈥�
As an agricultural province, Misamis Oriental鈥檚 main goal would be to increase the productivity of farmers and bring the province one step closer to eradicating poverty.
He described Misamis Oriental as an agricultural powerhouse; with corn, coconuts, cacao, cassava, banana, mango, coffee, and vegetables as its main products, while livestock farming was also being developed.
The province had increased corn productivity by 16 per cent from the 4.3 metric tons per hectare in 2022 to 5 metric tons per hectare in last year, he said.
Rice productivity also increased by 15.4 per cent from 3.9 metric tons per hectare in 2022, to 4.5 metric tons per hectare in 2023, Unabia said.
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鈥淭he provincial agriculture and veterinary offices have been given a total of P548 million to strengthen our support, further increase production and bring us closer to a food-secure Misamis Oriental,鈥� Unabia added.
Misamis Oriental was also getting some P1.43 billion worth of projects from the Philippine Rural Development Program (PRDP) for the construction of more farm-to-market roads and bridges, Unabia also said.
鈥淥ur administration is dedicated to sustaining and enhancing this sector. Innovative agricultural programs, support for farmers, (especially on) environmentally conscious practices, to strike a balance between economic progress and environmental conservation,鈥� Unabia said.
The tourism sector is also getting a boost with investments in new destinations being developed in the province to spur job creation.
Data showed that post-pandemic tourist arrivals in the province have increased by 110 per cent, said Jeffrey Saclot, provincial tourism officer.
Between January and September last year, more than 3.5 million day-time tourists visited the province, earning P170 million for tourism-related businesses.
Between July to December 2022 alone, more than 2.5 million day-time tourists visited the province, which raked in more than P127 million in tourism receipts.