CamSur disputes ‘poorest province’ tag; PSA says label not official

LEGAZPI CITY, ALBAY, Philippines — Camarines Sur Gov. Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr. has disputed the labeling of his province as the poorest in Bicol, citing a clarification from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) that the term is not an official statistical designation.

In a letter dated Oct. 15, PSA Regional Statistical Services Office V Director Cynthia L. Perdiz said CamSur recorded a 23-percent poverty incidence among families in 2025, the highest among Bicol’s six provinces. However, she stressed that the figure alone did not define the province’s overall economic performance or level of development.

Perdiz said “poorest province” was a general expression, not a distinct statistical indicator. Poverty incidence measures the proportion of families whose income falls below the official poverty threshold, while gross domestic product, government assets and locally generated revenues measure other aspects of economic activity.

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The clarification followed Villafuerte’s request after online reports described CamSur as the region’s poorest province.

Villafuerte said the provincial government sought the clarification because residents deserved accurate information rather than what he described as a misconstrued headline.

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“The PSA has made it clear that ‘poorest province’ is not an official finding, and one income indicator does not define our entire province,” he said.

He acknowledged that addressing poverty remained the provincial government’s responsibility, adding that official statistics would guide programs, particularly in areas with the greatest needs.

PSA data showed that CamSur’s poverty incidence fell from 29.8 percent in 2021 to 22.4 percent in 2023, a statistically significant decline of 7.4 percentage points. The increase to 23 percent in 2025 was not statistically significant, Perdiz said.

In 2023, CamSur ranked third among Bicol’s provinces in poverty incidence, behind Sorsogon at 28.4 percent and Catanduanes at 23.5 percent.

Perdiz also clarified that the 2025 estimates were available only at the regional and provincial levels. The latest city and municipal figures were for 2023, when Garchitorena posted CamSur’s highest estimated poverty incidence at 44.1 percent.

Seven of the eight CamSur towns with the highest poverty estimates in 2023 were in the fourth district: Garchitorena, 44.1 percent; Presentacion, 36.6 percent; Tinambac, 36.1 percent; Caramoan, 35.3 percent; Siruma, 35.2 percent; Sagñay, 34.9 percent; and Lagonoy, 33.6 percent.

All 10 towns in the fourth district recorded lower estimated poverty incidence in 2023 than in 2021. Garchitorena’s rate, for instance, declined from 53.2 percent to 44.1 percent.

Perdiz said the PSA had no objection to the provincial government reproducing and publicly disseminating its clarification, provided the letter was reproduced in full, properly attributed and presented without changing the meaning of its findings. /cb