In 2021, 31 out of the 72 city and municipalities in the MIMAROPA Region or 43.1 percent had poverty incidences (the proportion of individuals with income below the poverty threshold) below or equal to 20 percent, classifying them under Level 5. In addition, more than half or 51.4 percent of the regions total number of cities and municipalities excluding the City of Puerto Princesa were classified as Level 4 with poverty incidence ranges from 20 percent to 40 percent per municipality. Meanwhile, only 5.6 percent had poverty incidences between 40 percent and 60 percent, placing them under Level 3. There were no cities or municipalities with poverty incidences exceeding 60 percent, thus none were classified under Levels 2 or 1. (Table 1)

Looking at Level 3, three out of four municipalities came from the province of Romblon. These are the municipalities of Odiongan, Santa Maria and San Jose. The remaining municipality that is classified under this level came from the province of Palawan which was the Culion with 40.2 percent poverty incidence. The municipality of Odiongan, with 42.6 percent recorded the highest poverty incidence in 2021 among all city and municipalities in the region under Level 3 classification. (Table 1 and Figure 1)

In the province of Marinduque, the municipality of Mogpog recorded the highest poverty incidence in 2021 which was estimated at 23.0 percent. This estimate was 10.9 percentage points higher than the 2018 estimate with 12.1 percent. This was followed by the municipality of Buenavista with 21.9 percent, 2.2 percentage points higher than the 2018 estimate of 19.7 percent. The municipality of Torrijos recorded the lowest poverty incidence in 2021 with 10.1 percent. Meanwhile, only the municipality of Torrijos showed a decline in poverty incidence from 20.3 percent in 2018 to 10.1 percent in 2021 at 10 percent level of significance. (Figure 2 and Table A)

In the province of Occidental Mindoro, the municipality of Abra de Ilog recorded the highest poverty incidence at 37.3 percent, translating to an increase of 16.8 percentage points. Conversely, Calintaan had the lowest poverty incidence in the province, estimated at 16.3 percent. Additionally, the municipalities of Calintaan, Magsaysay, and Paluan experienced a slight decline in poverty incidence in 2021. (Figure 3 and Table B)

In the province of Oriental Mindoro, the municipality of Baco had the highest poverty incidence in 2021, at 34.4 percent, while Pinamalayan had the lowest at 10.5 percent. In addition, Baco and the City of Calapan experienced the largest increase in poverty incidence, with a rise of 17.6 percentage points and 17.5 percentage points, respectively. (Figure 4)

Meanwhile, only the municipalities of Roxas and Pinamalayan registered a decrease in poverty incidence, from 16.4 percent to 11.5 percent and from 11.4 percent to 10.5 percent, respectively. Additionally, among the 15 municipalities and city in the province, nine were classified as Level 5, and six were classified as Level 4. (Table C) 

In Palawan, the municipality of Culion had the highest poverty incidence in 2021 at 40.2 percent, marking a significant increase of 24.4 percentage points from its 2018 estimate of 15.8 percent. This was the largest rise in poverty incidence among all municipalities, placing Culion in Level 3 within the province of Palawan. (Figure 5)

Conversely, the municipality of Coron recorded the lowest poverty incidence at 9.8 percent, showing a decrease of 7.2 percentage points from 17.1 percent in 2018. Additionally, ten municipalities in Palawan experienced a decline in poverty incidence, with Balabac leading with the most substantial reduction of 15.5 percentage points, from 29.7 percent in 2018 to 14.2 percent in 2021. (Table D)

Between 2018 and 2021, several municipalities in Romblon experienced significant changes in poverty incidence. At 10 percent level of significance, Odiongan’s poverty incidence of 42.6 percent significantly went up from 9.6 percent in 2018. Other municipalities with a notable increase in poverty incidence during the three-year period include: Santa Maria with 20.7 percentage points, Looc with 19.4 percentage points, Romblon with 16.9 percentage points, Ferrol with 13.9 percentage points, and San Andres with 13.8 percentage points. (Figure 6 and Table E)

In contrast, Corcuera experienced a decrease in poverty incidence at 10 percent level of significance, dropping from 19.9 percent in 2018 to 10.1 percent in 2021. Meanwhile, Alcantara also saw a reduction, with poverty rates declining from 21.2 percent to 16.1 percent, while Santa Fe experienced a slight decrease from 26.5 percent to 23.2 percent. (Table E)
 

(SGD) LENI R. RIOFLORIDO
Regional Director

MLLM / OHG / RRL / EVC