Provinces getting poorer (Gap between NCR, rural area worsens)
Darwin G. Amojelar
Manila Times
A “significant” gap in economic output for nearly two decades between Metro Manila and the low-income regions worsened poverty incidence in the country, a government study said Monday.
“The unequal distribution of the level of regional economic activity in the country has been apparent through the years, as majority of the economic output is concentrated in NCR [National Capital Region, or Metro Manila] and the two adjacent regions of Central Luzon and Southern Tagalog,” Romulo Virola, secretary-general of the National Statistical Coordination Board said.
These three regions, out of 17, produce about 53 percent of the total national output or gross domestic product (GDP). GDP refers to the total value of goods and services produced in a country in a year.
Virola said the per capital gross regional domestic product, or GRDP, of the 17 regions from 1988 to 2007 “clearly reveals the persistence of a significant output gap across time between the NCR and the rest of the regions, and even relative to the national per capita GDP.”
Per capita GRDP measures the level of economic development of a region in a year.
“NCR remains as the most well-off region and outperforms the national economy by a big margin,” Virola said, adding that the region has the biggest average per capita gross regional domestic product of P29,647.829 over 1988 to 2007.
Metro Manila’s per capita gross regional domestic product is 139.3 percent higher than the national average of P12,390.22. Central Luzon’s per capita gross regional domestic product is P10,926.93 and Southern Tagalog, P13,086.12.
The poverty incidence in Metro Manila in 2006 was only 10.4 percent. In Central Luzon, it was 20.70 percent and in Southern Tagalog, 20.90 percent.
The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) posted the lowest per capita output among the regions with P3,601.97, followed by Eastern Visayas, P5,826.18; Bicol, P5,641.84; and Caraga, P6,012.13.
These regions also posted the highest poverty incidence: ARMM, 62 percent; Caraga, 53 percent; Bicol, 51 percent; and Eastern Visayas, 48.50 percent.
Unlikely convergence
“The growth rates of per capita GRDP of the regions and of the national per capita GDP suggest fluctuations that prevent convergence toward a common path in the near future [to have sustained income growth],” Virola said.
Economic convergence occurs when this disparity disappears and the endpoint is equality of per capita GRDP across regions.
“The unlikely convergence of the regions certainly calls for a sound review of existing regional economic policies and for the implementation of strategies to achieve the goal of economic growth that is not only sustainable but also equitable,” Virola said.
Currently, the overall economic progress of the regions, as measured by per capita gross regional domestic product, suggests “lack of convergence, as the paths of [their] per capita GRDP do not indicate that their endpoints will meet at some point in the near future.”
Virola said only the Cordillera Administrative Region, with per capita gross regional domestic product of P14,756.93 and Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal and Quezon have some chances of catching up with Metro Manila.
“The rest of the regions follows a path that is still far too below the NCR path,” he added.
Virola noted that a steady long-term growth in per capita output of an economy would signify relative improvement in living standards and attainment of economic growth.
