Poverty and Population in Masbate

In my column this week, allow me to present some data from a study I made on the relation of poverty and population in Masbate.

Table 1 presents the poverty threshold and poverty incidence of Masbate in the context of the poverty situation in Bikol. Although poverty incidence in Masbate decreased from 55.9 to 51%, the province still remained the poorest among the six (6) Bikol provinces for both periods 2003 and 2006 (National Statistical Coordination Board, 2008).  Catanduanes, an island province like Masbate, had the lowest poverty incidence for 2003 and 2006 although the incidence increased from 31.8 to 37.3%. Camarines Sur was the third poorest province in the region for both 2003 and 2006.

Table 1. Poverty in the Bikol provinces, 2003 and 2006.

Province	Poverty Incidence (% of families)
	2003	2006
Albay	34.4	37.8
Camarines Norte	46.1	38.4
Camarines Sur	40.1	41.2
Catanduanes	31.8	37.3
Masbate	55.9	51.0
Sorsogon	33.7	43.5

Table 2 shows the poverty incidence, population and population growth rate of selected municipalities. The most highly populated was Masbate City , with about 10% of the province's entire population. This may be explained by the general tendency of people to flock to urban centers for a number of reasons -- better education, more employment opportunities, greater access to health care, electricity, water, and communication services, and ready availability of personal and social services. Masbate City was followed by Aroroy, Cawayan, Cataingan, and Milagros. Except for Masbate City and Cataingan, these municipalities were among the poorest. On the contrary, Esperanza recorded one of the smallest population at 16,209, though it is the fifth poorest municipality.

Population in 1996-2000 expanded most rapidly in Milagros, followed by Cawayan, Mobo and Uson. Except Mobo, these municipalities were among the poorest. This may be due to lack of knowledge of couples on family planning although they wanted to exercise birth control, or they do not have any plans at all to plan their family. Another probable reason is the lack of social activities and recreational opportunities on which they can spend their time when they have finished with the house chores and income-generating endeavours. Population growth rate was negative 1.04% in Esperanza, which means that there is a decline in its population within 1996 to 2000. Decline in population reflects the net effect of birth, death and migration rates. Other municipalities with the lowest population growth were San Fernando, San Jacinto and PV Corpus. Except Esperanza, these were among the comparatively better-off communities in the province.

Table 2.  Poverty incidence of selected municipalities of Masbate

	Municipality	NSCB small area poverty incidence estimates	Total Population (NSO, 2000)	Population Growth Rate (NSO, 2000, % annual change 1996-2000)
1	Cawayan	74.01	52256	2.85
2	Esperanza	69.05	16209	-1.04
3	Uson	67.94	43825	2.39
4	Aroroy	67.60	58751	1.38
5	Milagros	65.73	44575	2.95
6	Mobo	64.72	28233	2.60
7	Cataingan	62.85	46593	2.21
8	PV Corpus	60.99	21519	0.89
9	San Jacinto	57.31	24780	0.64
10	San Fernando	57.24	19179	0.52
11	Masbate City	41.18	71441	1.70

Results of correlation statistics showed that municipalities with high poverty incidence tend to have big population and high population growth rate, although the association was weak. This suggests that the more deprived municipalities have a slightly larger population than their wealthier counterparts. Moreover, the population of the poorer towns grows faster than the richer ones. This is consistent with the analysis of John Carroll (2006) that Filipinos value the family so much because the family serves as support structure throughout one's life. We value our family relationships, even relatives and cousins of the third degree. Our family is a refuge and support for the members in times of crisis. In one way or another, reliance on the family is typical of societies in which one cannot rely on public authorities.