WHILE the Philippines, as a whole, is expected to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) on safe water supply and access to sanitary toilet facilities, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said there are disparities across income classes and regions in the country.
Based on the 2014 Annual Poverty Indicators Survey (APIS), some 85.5 percent of the 22.7 million families have access to safe water supply.
In terms of sanitary toilet facilities, around 94.1 percent of families have access to sanitary toilet facilities.
The access to safe water supply performance of the country was still below the target of 86.8 percent by 2015, while the country’s performance in achieving the sanitary toilet facility indicator has already exceeded the 83.8-percent target by 2015.
“Based on per-capita family income, families were grouped into top-70-percent and bottom-30-percent strata. Nationwide, about 27.4 percent at the bottom-30-percent families use unsafe water source and 14.1 percent used unsanitary toilet,” the PSA said.
“Results show that the national MDG target is likely to be achieved by 2015, however, there are observed disparities among regions,” it added.
This was particularly the case in safe water supply. PSA data showed that around 14.5 percent of families in the country still do not have access to safe water sources.
These families obtain their water supply from unprotected well, spring, river, pond, lake, rainwater and tanker trucks or peddlers.
Further, only seven regions have proportion of families having access to safe water supply on par with, or higher, than the national average ranging from 84.7 percent to 98.9 percent.
These regions are Caraga with an average of 84.7 percent; Region 8, 86.5 percent; National Capital Region, 90.3 percent; Region 1, 90.7 percent; Region 9A, 90.9 percent; Region 2, 96 percent; and Region 3, 98.9 percent.
In terms of sanitary toilet facilities, the PSA said in Region 8, or Eastern Visayas, which was ravaged by Supertyphoon Yolanda, only 83.5 percent of families have access to sanitary toilet facilities.
The PSA said this region is the only one that has not met the MDG indicator on sanitary toilet facilities which refers to flush toilet (either owned or shared) and close pit facilities.
“All regions had successfully achieved the MDG target with proportions of families having sanitary toilet ranging from 84.7 percent in Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao to 99.1 percent in Regions1, 2, 3 and 4A,” the PSA said.
The MDGs are a set of eight goals, 22 quantitative targets and more than 60 specific indicators meant to serve as a focus for international and national development policy.” The goals are eight specific, measurable and time-bound goals anchored on eradicating poverty by 2015.
These goals are to end extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality and empower women; and reduce child mortality.
Other goals are to improve maternal health; combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensure environmental sustainability; and develop a global partnership for development.