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AMID
soaring commodity prices, the National Statistical
Coordination Board (NSCB) expressed concern for the
plight of children, particularly those in the Autonomous
Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and Caraga, considered
the two child-poorest regions in the
Philippines.
NSCB
Executive Director Romulo Virola, in his online column
“Statistically Speaking,” said ARMM and Caraga have
consistently showed poor performances in the Child
Development Index (CDI) created by the agency.
“To save
our children, no Solomonic decision is required.
Political will, genuine concern and love for our
children are all it takes. Notwithstanding the threat of
a $200-a-barrel oil bomb, therefore, let us continue to
hope. But work we must,” Virola said.
“Child-poverty incidence is highest in Caraga and ARMM,
but the largest concentration of poor children is in [Bicol
region] with 1.4 million poor children, [Western Visayas]
with 1.3 million and [Calabarzon—Cavite, Laguna,
Batangas, Rizal and Quezon] with 1.1 million,” he added.
The CDI
consists of three dimensions of child development:
health, knowledge and capacity. These are measured
through a Health Index (HI 1), Education Index (EI) and
Quantity of Life Index (QOLI).
The NSCB
said preliminary results of the CDI showed that ARMM and
Caraga posted the lowest index scores using 2000 and
2003 data. ARMM ranked last, or 17th place in both
years, while Caraga was 16th in both years.
In the
overall CDI, on the other hand, the National Capital
Region (NCR) and Calabarzon took the two top spots using
both 2000 and 2003 data.
In terms
of the Health Index, children in ARMM were not receiving
enough medical attention as the region again received
the lowest rank both in 2000 and 2003. The second lowest
region in this index was
Eastern Visayas in 2000 and MIMAROPA (Mindoro,
Masbate, Romblon and Palawan) in 2003.
Meanwhile, in the Education index, ARMM was also ranked
last in the CDI in 2000 and 2003. The second to the last
region in 2000, meanwhile, was Soccsksargen (South
Cotabato, Cotabato City, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani,
General Santos City) and Caraga in 2003.
In the
Quality of Life (QOL) Index, ARMM again took the last
spot in 2000 and the second to the last spot in 2003.
The Bicol Region, on the other hand, took the second to
the last spot in 2000 and Caraga was ranked last in
2003.
“Gains
were observed in [the Health Index] and [QOL index], but
a large drop in [the education index] was observed [in
2003 from 2000]. The trend of the Education Index over
the three-year period clearly indicates a definitive
deterioration in the quality of human capital of the
country,” Virola said.
Meanwhile, when the NSCB added a rights-based approach
to the CDI, the agency observed a drop in the overall
CDI in all regions.
This,
Virola said, could indicate that the government is not
doing enough to support the development of all children
in the country.
To
inject a rights-based approach to the CDI, the NSCB
formulated a second CDI, called CDI 2, that includes
additional variables measuring the accountability of
policymakers.
Unfortunately, due to data and time constraints, the
NSCB was only able to do this for the health index,
accounting for the percentage of immunized children
nine-11 months and the percentage of pregnant women with
three or more prenatal visits, and producing Health
Index 2. |
