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Maguindanao in Focus

Maguindanao in Focus

Jan 14, 2012

Maguindanao in Focus

by Mary Ann Manahan

The Ampatuan massacre in Maguindanao where 57 people, including journalists, lawyers, aides, motorists, and Mangudadatus, were killed, opened a Pandora’s Box of societal problems and highlighted the many ironies that have beset not only Muslim Mindanao but also the country. There are a couple of contradictions emerging from official statistics.

First,  despite the high employment rate of 92% (2002 levels, see table 3) and an annual per capita poverty threshold of PhP 15,556.00, which is a little bit higher than the national average, Maguindanao remains as one of the poorest provinces in the country (see figure 1). With a population of more than 1 million in 2006, six out of ten people are considered poor in the province, which is almost three times higher than the national average (see table 1). Maguindanao is also a “mainstay” in the list of ten provinces with the biggest income gap, poverty gap, and severity of poverty (see figure 2).
Second, despite the higher annual per capita food threshold, i.e. the “cost of the food required to satisfy nutritional requirements for economically necessary and socially desirable physical activities”, the subsidence among families is twice as high as the national average of 11% (see table 2).

Such contradictions, however, becomes moot and academic when examining other indicators of human development such as health, education, access to safe water and sanitation, access to land, and the overall human development index.

•    Health. According to the Health Research Agenda of Mindanao: A Zonal Report, 2006-2010 by Marlina Lacuesta, et.al, the leading causes of sickness include “infectious diseases, namely hepatitis, scabies, diarrhea, waterborne diseases, food poisoning, and dengue, are reported in the regional consultation as the leading causes of sickness.”  Also, accidents and gunshot wounds top the leading causes of mortality in the ARMM. This is not surprising since Maguindanao only has 178 total health workers available per 100,000 people, with only 18 doctors, 24 nurses, 163 midwives, and 1 nutritionist.

•    Access to Safe Water and Sanitation. According to NSCB statistics, only 60.4% have access to safe water in 2004, while only 43% have access to sanitary toilet. These are far below the national average of 85% for access to safe water, and 72% for access to sanitation facilities.

•    Access to Land. Under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), as of 2009, there are 77,688 hectares of land, mostly private agricultural lands, which has yet to be redistributed to landless farmers, farmworkers, and rural women. This is 54% of the remaining land acquisition and distribution (LAD) balance for ARMM, and which makes it second to the Negros island in terms of top provinces with highest number of lands to be redistributed under the program.

•    Education. For school year 2004-2005, there are only 489 public elementary schools, and 38 public secondary schools. The teacher-pupil ratio (TPR) in primary education is 1:52, while the national average is 1:36, putting Maguindanao in the top 3 provinces with high TPR. For the classroom-pupil ratio (CPR), the province has 1:54 (78th in terms of ranking), while the cohort survival rate is only 38.2%, less than half of the national average, 63.6%. On the other hand, the public secondary school seemed to be better in terms of teacher-student ratio, with 1:47 (while the Philippine-level is 1:36). However, the classroom-student ratio of 1:62 (national average of 1:53), is much worse than its elementary counterpart.

•    Human Development Index, HDI (see table 4). The HDI is a measure of human development, a “process of enlarging people’s choices, most critical of which are to lead a long and healthy life, to be educated and to enjoy a decent standard of living” conceptualized by the United Nations Development Programme in 1990. In 2000, Maguindanao was the 5th bottom province in terms of HDI, being only surpassed by 3 other ARMM provinces including Sulu (.351), Tawi-tawi (.39), Basilan (.425), and one province from the Cordillera Administrative Region, Ifugao (.461). From 1997 to 2000, the overall human development index of Maguindanao slighlt improved from .425 to .461 (from 75th rank to 73rd).  Life expectancy is only 58.06 years, much lower than the national average of 69 years or a life expectancy index of .551 (vs. .732 for the Philippines); education index of .678 (when the national average is .84).

Table 1: Poverty Incidence Among Families, 2003 and 2006

Country/Province/

Region

Poverty Incidence Among Families in %

2000

Poverty Incidence Among Families in %

2003

Poverty Incidence Among Families in %

2006

Philippines

27.5

24.4

26.9

ARMM

53.8

45.4

55.3

Maguindanao

59.3

60.4

62.0

Source: National Statistical and Coordination Board

Table 2: Annual Per Capita Food Threshold and Subsistence Incidence (2000, 2003, 2006)

Region/Province

Annual Per Capita Food Threshold in Pesos

Subsistence Incidence among Families in %

2000

2003

2006

2000

2003

2006

Philippines

7,707

8,149

10,025

12.3

10.2

11.0

ARMM

8,313

8,730

10,318

23.9

18.2

22.5

Maguindanao

8,242

8,496

10,190

35.1

30.0

27.3

Source: National Statistical and Coordination Board

Table 3: Labor and Employment-Philippines and ARMM, 2002

APRIL 2002 LABOR FORCE (In Thousands)

Province  

Employed

Un-

employed

Total

Employ-ment Rate

Unemploy-ment Rate

Visible Under-

employment

%

Rank

%

Rank

%

Rank

PHILIPPINES

30,186

4,866

35,052

86.1

13.9

12.5

ARMM

959

92

1,051

90.9

9.1

4.2

Basilan

101

21

122

82.5

71

17.5

8

4.2

65

Lanao del Sur

227

30

257

88.2

48

11.8

28

0.3

77

Maguindanao

337

29

366

92.0

24

8.0

53

13.5

29

Sulu

175

7

182

96.2

5

3.8

73

2.4

71

Tawi-Tawi

119

5

124

95.8

6

4.2

72

0.7

76

Source: NSCB, Countryside in Figures, 2006

Source: http://www.i-site.ph/povertyaudit/?page_id=251

Table 4: Human Development Index, 1997 and 2000 – Maguindanao

Human Development Index, 1997 and 2000

Province

1997

2000

HDI

Rank

Life Expectancy

Education

Income

HDI

Rank

Level (in years)

Index

Combined Enrolment

Functional Literacy

Index

Real Per Capita

Index

Maguindanao

0.425

75

58.06

0.551

65.89

68.71

0.678

11,864

0.154

0.461

73

Source: NSCB, Countryside in Figures, 2006

Source: http://www.i-site.ph/povertyaudit/?page_id=243

 (Published in Focus on the Philippines December 2009: http://focusweb.org/oldphilippines/content/view/367/52/)

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