Ratio and Proportion

HUNGER GAMES Come out, come out, wherever you are

RECENTLY, THE REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL (RDC) Caraga, has issued a statement online, courtesy of the Philippine Information Agency's (PIA) Facebook account, that the poverty incidence in the region has had its share of improvement from 43% in the first semester of 2006 and 2009 to 34% in the first half of the 2012, thus, enabling the council to put some happy premium on it, announcing that Caraga is now out of the list as one of the country’s poorest regions. 

In what seemed to be a rare form of recognition and development, RDC issued the said statement like they had reached a milestone, perhaps celebrating it with a lot of pride after suffering a string of negativity brought about by its poor standing.

Definitely a sigh of relief. After languishing in those hard, listless years of bad press and marginalized billing, Caraga was able to rise up (for now) from the fragments of poverty and penitence. 

If this is not a serious upgrade, I don’t know what it is, but it could mean that the residents of Caraga, who had been badly beaten since (I don't know when), suddenly find themselves rising up to the challenges around them, believing in their government again, and assuming that the opportunities are right there for the taking. And by being out of that sorry list, the region can now move on, and with a clear purpose of maintaining that elusive recognition.

But not much has changed in Caraga. It is still the same sentient and laid back region with a meager shade of cosmopolitan life in the background. Although eternally rural, its residents seemed to be always on the edge, a hand-to-mouth existence is still the order of the day. 

Caraga, ironically, is rich in natural resources, from ore to wildlife to exotic plants, but even then this is already vanishing. And the disparity between the rich and the poor is continually widening, severing any possibility of integration, with the rich getting richer and the poor getting nowhere. So when news of this kind reaches into the consciousness of its naysayers, it certainly has a major impact as far as perception is concerned.   

"The Caraga region is now out of the list of poorest regions in the country. Caraga Regional Development Council (RDC) vice-chairperson and the region’s National Economic and Development Authority chief Dir. Carmencita Cochingco today said that Caraga improved its poverty incidence significantly from 43% in the first semester of 2006 and 2009, to 34% in the first half of 2012." (Facebook post via PIA Caraga)   

Not that I doubt the veracity of such a statement because I could see some improvements in some areas over the years, but the timing of such a declaration is still very much a suspect. I don’t know if it’s intentional or not, but that post online was quite loaded, and you really don’t have to dig deeper why a statement like that could benefit a few prominent ones now that elections are here. 

The idea being is that it could potentially mask a delicate and sensitive issue (poverty) come election time, and that those in power, those who are in the position, finds it a necessity to issue a statement that could somehow ease out the tension and negativity surrounding the squalor that is dragging the entire region for so long.

Of course, I have my reservations. I don’t see it that way. There’s a lot to be desired about in that declaration. Anyone who is acquainted with Caraga, or had visited the region a few times, could attest to the many foibles of living in a typical Caraga community. Hard to argue with numbers though, but that ratio is not at all based on what is going on inside a barangay, inside a sitio or barrio (dominant communities in the region), where abject poverty is its daily grind. 

Those in RDC could say what they want and what we want to hear, but that is not what’s really happening on the ground. A farmer in Santiago, Agusan del Norte, could be at a loss in trying to make do with his little income, and may be forced to sell his prized possessions, such as his carabao (water buffalo) or his land and be a tenant to it instead, just so to make ends meet, like everyday sustenance or a student in college. And besides, that percentage only gave us a glimpse of what happened in 2012, who knows if that grade has dropped significantly (for the worse) in 2013, which could certainly alter everything.

Even if I have seen the data, I will still hold on to the ground. If you have been to Kauswagan in Sibagat, Agusan del Sur, that statement---improvement of poverty incidence---will probably die a natural death. As a community organizer of a business project involving the abaca farmers of the said town, getting into the area is one task that will definitely cure someone who wishes to visit the town again. 

The road to Kauswagan is literally impassable, unless if you’re riding a Saddam (a military truck carrying trunks of wood), which, incidentally is the reason behind the severe holes and the savage mud on the road. The road alone is enough to keep these lowly Kauswagan residents from taking a firm stand against poverty, because the road itself is standing in their way. And asked why they did not stick to the business of abaca as their major source of income, most of them (farmers) replied, “Gusto namo kanang dali ra ma-kwartahan.”  

Yes, you could say that poverty reduction is improving, but not in relation to what was being said in that statement. Poverty is reduced because people are constantly finding ways to get out of it. And “easy money” is the only way out? 

Maybe Director Carmencita Cochingco and the rest of RDC are banking on the assumption that there seemed to be no poverty-related incidents happening as of late, just some minor, isolated conflicts within cause-oriented groups, out of mere differences of opinion and politics. But it doesn’t mean that because we seemed to be doing our normal chores that poverty is just a parcel of it. Even a lousy mention of gambling (Lotto or sabong) is an indication that an immediate action, no matter how fatalistic it would seem, is in need of an equally immediate delivery, a deliverance from the confines of hunger and want. 

They could give us the entire ratio, all the possible equations, the numbers, for us to count thy ways; the proportion, however, tells a different story, and it is a story in need of some improvement.