In my first meeting with the workers of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), I asked for verifiable and accurate data on the poverty level of all provinces covered by MinDA, including important statistics like malnutrition rate, availability of sources of drinking water, villages without roads and others.
In all of my years in public service, I believe that correct and accurate data and statistics serve as the strong foundations for good governance and sound rural development programs.
Looking at the reaction of the MinDA staff, I was amused because they started looking at each other, obviously unsure of their numbers.
Which prompted me to fire my first order: Validate current statistics on Mindanao and give me the accurate version.
I have no intention of putting into question statistics provided by the Philippine Statistics Authority but the case of Lanao del Sur is something worth looking into.
According to government statistics, “Lanao del Sur has the highest incidence of poverty among all provinces in the Philippines, with 71.9% of the population living below the annual per capita poverty threshold of about $442.8 (P22,802) in 2015 compared with 53.7% for the entire region of ARMM and 21.6% nationally.”
Lanao del Sur tops the list of 8 Mindanao provinces listed in the 15 Poorest Provinces in the Philippines which include: Maguindanao, Northern Samar, Saranggani, Sulu, Bukidnon, Siquijor, Zamboanga del Norte, Sultan Kudarat, Agusan del Sur, Western Samar, Eastern Samar, Masbate and Negros Oriental.
Lanao del Sur Governor Bombit Adiong furiously protests the labelling of his province as the poorest in the Philippines.
I can understand his protestation. In fact, I am one of those who doubt the accuracy of the poverty statistics for Lanao del Sur.
Maranaos, the natives of Lanao, are business-minded and enterprising people. In fact, funny anecdotes of their ability to make money out of just about anything abound.
More than that, however, I have personally been to almost all areas of Lanao del Sur.
As a young worker of the then National Grains Authority, I often took a motorboat from Cotabato City to Malabang, Lanao del Sur and then pass through the periphery of Lake Lanao to visit a girl friend in Marawi City.
Those were the peaceful years in Lanao del Sur.
Recently, when I assumed office as Secretary of Agriculture, I went to many areas of Lanao del Sur, even in the highly critical town of Butig before the Marawi Siege of 2017, and later in Ditsaan-Ramain and Marawi City after the siege.
I saw with my own eyes, before and after the conflict, the affluence of the people of Lanao del Sur.
In all honesty, I can say that the Maranaos do not look poor at all.
Now, let me train my question to the people who came up with the statistics on the poverty level in Lanao del Sur: How did you gather your data? Did any of you really go to Lanao del Sur to conduct actual surveys and interview people or you simply based on statistics on assumptions?
Sino sa Inyo ang matapang na nagpunta ng Lanao del Sur para gumawa ng actual na poverty incidence survey?
MinDA now will harness its limited resources and partner with local government units to validate government statistics and come up with an accurate picture of Mindanao.
From there, we will start rebuilding this rich group of islands and present to the country and to the world the real Mindanao.
(Images of Lake Lanao and the map of Lanao del Sur were downloaded from wikipedia while the other photos were taken by the Department of Agriculture information staff during my sorties to Butig, Malabang, Ditsaan-Ramain and Marawi City when I was Secretary of Agriculture.)
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