Poverty incidence in Bohol plummeted by 7.8 percent in a three-year period from 2012 topping the two other provinces in Central Visayas in reducing poverty, a National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) official said.
According to NEDA-7 director Efren Carreon, Bohol poverty incidence in 2015 was at 25 percent dropping from 32 percent in 2012 and recording a yearly decrease average of 2.6 percent.
The province’s yearly average decrease in said period was higher than that of the entire region which was at 1.8 percent, said Carreon.
Bohol poverty rate 10 years ago was at 41 percent before falling slightly to 38 percent in 2009, he added.
The NEDA official is optimistic that poverty incidence would further fall in 2019 as he projected a 15 percent decrease in another three-year period.
He said that the significant drop would be possible through the completion of major infrastructure projects in the province including the Governor Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital in Cortes and New Bohol Airport in Panglao.
Carreon was among the guest speakers during the commemorative program in honor of former President Carlos p. Garcia’s 120th birth anniversary at the Bohol Cultural Center on Friday.
In his speech, the region’s chief economic planner also commended the provincial government for its effective anti-poverty campaign. (Rey Tutas)Â
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