The national government intends to take a different approach to poverty reduction by consulting with the poor themselves, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).
Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said this will be done through the Salubungan, a series of activities under the government’s Accelerated and Sustainable Anti-Poverty Program (Asapp).
The Salubungan will be conducted in nine more pilot provinces: Pangasinan, Quezon, Camarines Sur, Negros Occidental, Cebu, Leyte, Zamboanga del Sur, Davao del Sur and Sulu.
“We need to be more precise in our interventions and even in our interventions to promote economic growth to ensure that it will be inclusive,” Balisacan said.
“This time, we will do it differently. We, the government, will ensure that the attainment of this goal is through the substantial engagement and strong partnership with the private sector and the poor themselves,” he added.
Salubungan is a public-private partnership model of the Asapp that aims to tap the skills and resources of the poor in enabling private enterprises to expand their production capacities and markets.
It gathers together regional government agencies, local government units, the private sector and representatives from select poor cities and municipalities to discuss factors that inhibit local private enterprises from increasing their linkages with the poor.
The Asapp aims to reduce poverty incidence among the population to 18 percent to 20 percent in 2016 by creating income opportunities for and enhancing the employability of the poor.
It is being piloted in select cities and municipalities in 10 provinces, classified as Category 1 in the Updated Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2011 to 2016. It is in these provinces, where the number of poor families is highest.
Solutions involving government policies and programs to link the poor with these enterprises are identified. These may include skill enhancement to increase the poor’s employability in businesses with growth potentials.
It may also include trade facilitation and market linkages, such that the poor get to supply the raw materials, inputs and services needed by bigger businesses.
The pilot municipalities also have potential to supply raw materials, such as bamboo, poultry and livestock, seafood, spices and vegetables.
“We will try to address gaps with government intervention and support from the private sector to create massive employment, so that those currently considered below the poverty threshold can be included in the growth process,” Neda Deputy Director General Margarita R. Songco said.
“We don’t need grand projects. What we need are doable targets for the private sector, and enabling environment and commitment from the government to encourage businesses to hire the vulnerable and source inputs from them,” she added.
In a briefing in Malacañang last year, Balisacan said the PDP was revised to focus on specific sources of poverty. It classified areas in the Philippines that are poor and will implement targeted poverty-reduction responses.
The first classification is Category 1, which includes provinces with the most number of poor households. These provinces are Zamboanga del Sur, Cebu, Pangasinan, Negros Occidental, Camarines Sur, Leyte, Iloilo, Sulu, Quezon and Davao del Sur.
The strategy to be employed in these provinces are focused on upgrading the skill sets of poor households and undertaking aggressive employment facilitation. These will be carried out specifically in sectors, such as information-technology-business process-outsourcing, tourism, manufacturing and logistics.
Category 2, Balisacan said, includes provinces, where the proportion of poor households is high compared to population and are more likely in areas with armed conflict. These provinces are Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Eastern Samar, Apayao, Zamboanga del Norte, Camiguin, Saranggani, North Cotabato, Masbate and Northern Samar.
The strategy for these provinces are to extend social assistance programs, while economic opportunities are being created. These programs include promoting economic and physical mobility of people, as well as peace-building efforts.
Category 3 has the most number of provinces since it includes provinces that are exposed to multiple hazards, such as environmental hazards. Some of the provinces in this list include Abra; Agusan del Sur, Albay, Antique, Aurora, Benguet, Bohol, Cagayan, Catanduanes, Cavite, Dinagat Islands, Eastern Samar, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur and Iloilo.
These areas represent marginally nonpoor, who can slide into poverty due to shocks or disasters. This is why the strategies to be employed include risk reduction and mitigation, providing social insurance and social protection and income diversification.