Manila: Poverty incidence in Western Visayas dropped to 13.7 percent in 2023 from 17.2 percent in 2021, surpassing its pre-pandemic level of 14.2 percent, the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) said Tuesday. NAPC Lead Convenor Secretary Lope Santos III noted that this decline indicates the region has successfully recovered from the pandemic and achieved stronger economic performance.

According to Philippines News Agency, Santos emphasized the need for the region to continue enhancing agricultural productivity, attracting more infrastructure and investment, and strengthening climate resilience initiatives to sustain these gains. "Those are some of the macro views that we think will further contribute to continuing sustained poverty reduction in the region," he stated during a media forum.

Poverty incidence decreased in all provinces except Capiz, where it rose to 13.4 percent in 2023 from 9.5 percent in 2021 and 6.2 percent in 2018. Santos remarked, "While the poverty incidence in Capiz has increased, they remain one of the least poor provinces."

Among the provinces, Aklan recorded the lowest poverty incidence at 4.6 percent, a significant drop from 20.2 percent in 2021 and 12.1 percent in 2018. Antique's poverty incidence fell to 18.9 percent from 23.7 percent in 2021 and 19.1 percent in 2018. Guimaras saw a decrease to 6.5 percent, down from 10 percent in 2021 and 9.5 percent in 2018, while Iloilo province declined to 15.2 percent from 17.8 percent in 2021 and 16.5 percent in 2018. Iloilo City's poverty incidence also improved to 2.3 percent from 3.3 percent.

At the national level, Santos reported that the Philippines is on track to meet its poverty reduction goals, with poverty incidence falling to 15.5 percent in 2023 from 18.1 percent in 2021. He mentioned that the government will assess whether the downward trend continues once the Philippine Statistics Authority releases the results of its latest poverty survey in August. Nevertheless, Santos cautioned that external factors, including the recent conflict in the Middle East, could impact the country's poverty reduction trajectory.