THE DREAM, THE CHALLENGE, THE PROMISING DEVELOPMENT

THE President's 3rd SONA has brought joy and hope to the Filipino people especially when the President delivered these inspiring lines. "But what we know about our people, and what we had proven time and again to the world was this: Nothing is impossible to a united Filipino nation. It was change we dreamed of, and change we achieved; the benefits of change are now par for the course."

Indeed, we are glad to know the very promising transformation from being the "sick man of Asia to one who now beams with vitality with a growing GDP by 6.4 percent which is said to be much higher than projected. It was a great relief to hear comments that "Once, we were the debtors; now, we are the creditors.”

How will this apply to Northern Mindanao?

Checking the revenue performance statistics of Northern Mindanao during the first quarter of 2012, NEDA-10 reported P1.43 billion tax collections and P 1.36 billion customs collections, which are higher by 26 and 1 8 percent, respectively as compared with the same period last year.

However, behind the rosy portrait, the SONA presented a bleak picture which needs to be arrested. To borrow  the words of the President, "Challenges remain. The high maternal mortality ratio in our country continues to alarm us."

This is about the increasing maternal deaths from 162 to 221 per 100,000 live births from 2006-2010 as revealed during the launch of the National Statistics  Office 2011 Family Helath Survey last June 19, 2012.

According to the keynote speech of Health Secretary Enrique Ona: The cruelest irony is that women are dying  as they are giving life .” Such statement is loaded and its implications remind us of the vulnerabilities that confront our women population .

Putting the statistics simply would give us a picture of estimated 11 faceless women dying each day from highly preventable complications arising from pregnancy and childbirth.

This would of course lead us to a blatant contrast which shows that today more Filipino women  die in childbirth than in the early 1990’s.

Sec. Ona in his speech stressed that “we need real time health statistics that can guide us in making crucial decisions as we reform our healthcare system.” And true enough, these statistics have generated promising development.

The SONA unveiled some facts that based on data from DSWD: 1,672,977 mothers now get regular checkups; 1,672,814 children have been vaccinated against diarrhea, polio, measles, and various other diseases.

With this promising development, there is no doubt that we can reverse the trend and give each and every mother the promise of a healthy life.

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Pill remains the top choice of contraception in Normin

Pill remains the top choice of contraception in Normin
             
            Population problems have been man’s concern since ancient time. Matters concerning the need to stimulate or retard population growth had received various opinions from statesmen and thinkers whose concerns ranged from political to social and economic considerations until modern population theory emerged in the current time. Thus, some economists had said that the use of contraceptives in modern times had made it possible to check population growth effectively making the ‘preventive checks’ and ‘positive checks’ introduced by Malthus irrelevant and obsolete.

            Speaking of contraceptives, the results of the 2011 Family Health Survey (FHS) conducted by the National Statistics Office revealed a decrease of the contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) for married women in the Philippines from 50.7 percent in 2008 to 48.9 in 2011. Contraceptive prevalence rate is the proportion of women of reproductive age who are using (or whose partner is using) a contraceptive method at a given point in time. It is an indicator of health, population, development and women’s empowerment. It also serves as a proxy measure of access to reproductive health services that are essential for meeting many of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG)s, especially the child mortality, maternal health, and gender related goals.

            The survey indicated that while use of any method decreased by 1.8 percentage points, use of modern method increased by 2.9 percentage points, that is, from 34 percent in 2008 to 36.9 percent in 2011. Traditional method, on the other hand, decreased significantly from 16.7 percent to 12 percent or a drop of 4.7 percentage points.

            Among the modern methods, pill registered the most common method with 19.8 percent displaying an increase of 4.1 percentage points over the results of the 2008 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) of 15.7 percent. The pill remains the most preferred method of contraception for both poor and non-poor women. It is used by 18.7 percent of poor women and 20.3 percent of non-poor women. Female sterilization follows with 8.6 percent. On the contrary, among the traditional method, withdrawal ranks first with 8.2 percent and rhythm or periodic abstinence comes second with only 3.7 percent.

            According to NSO Administrator Carmelita N. Ericta, the result of the 2011 FHS shows a significant shift in sources of pills from the public sector to the private sector. The public sector provided most recent supply of pills to on 32.0 percent of poor women in 2011 compared to 55.4 percent in 2006, as revealed by the Family Planning Survey conducted in that year. In contrast, the private sector provided supply of pills to 64.0 percent of poor women in 2011 compared to 63.8 percent in 2006.

Does Northern Mindanao follow the same trend?

Apparently, pill remains the top choice of contraception in Northern Mindanao with 22.3 percent and is even higher that the national figure. The results even showed an increase of 3.9 percentage points from 18.4 percent in 2008 NDHS. Pill might be very popular as a contraceptive method because of its availability and affordable price. Although male condom is also cheap and readily available in pharmacies, it still registered a low percentage of only 1.9 percent. In Northern Mindanao, the CPR posted at 53.9 percent in 2011 indicating an increase of 0.7 percentage points from 53.2 percent in 2008.

            On the contrary, currently married women in Northern Mindanao who were not using contraception registered at 46.1 percent. Among these non users, 56.4 percent cited that the main reason for non use was fertility – related and some 24.9 percent of women were opposed to family planning or prohibited by their religion while 14.1 percent reported lack of knowledge anent contraceptive methods. Moreover, one out of five women (19.2 percent) in Northern Mindanao was not using any contraceptive method because of wanting to have children.

            Such statistics speak of the trend in Northern Mindanao, and this shows that population growth rate cannot be viewed in isolation, because there are many relevant factors to consider.

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OFWS IN NORMIN INCREASING SLIGHTLY

OVERSEAS migration movements by, Filipinos are described to be mostly economic in nature. In an article titled "Statistics on Filipinos' International Migration: lssues and Steps Towards Harmonizing the Data," Opiniano (2007) wrote that "the Philippines is lucky for having a well-placed government structure that facilitates the international movement of people, and that statistics on Filipinos' international migration is fairly developed,"

The article cited that gaps are expected from these, but the basic socio-economic and demographic variables of these international migration statistics are spelled out.

The author, however, stressed "that the general context is that international migration is a phenomenon so difficult to track, that relies on multiple sources (both in the Philippines and in host countries), and that is also a fairly new statistical arena to be developed by people in the fields of demography and statistics in the Philippines.”

Addressing the emerging need, the National Statistics Office conducted the 2011 Survey on Overseas Filipinos (SOF), which aims to derive national estimates on the number of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), and the amount and mode of remittances, in cash and in kind, received by their families. This survey also provides information about the socio-economic characteristics of the OFWs.

The SOF reported the total number of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who worked abroad at anytime during the period April to September 20I1 which was estimated at 2.2 million. It jumped by 10 percent from the 2 million recorded in the previous year. Out of this number, overseas contract workers or those with existing work contracts comprised 95.3 percent of the total OFWs in 2011.

It may be recalled that the term Overseas Filipino Workers or OFWs was officially adopted under the Ramos Administration to give recognition to millions of Filipinos who sacrifice by working in other countries out of a desire to earn better wages. This later on led to a new term balikbayanis - "the new breed of heroes who are said to be the source of economic stability and empowerment." (De Leon, 2008)

What is the contribution of the OFWs to the Philippine economy?

The SOF reported that the total remittance by OFWs during the period April to September 2011 was estimated at 156.3 billion pesos which was said to be higher than the previous years' remittances posted at P 141.2 billion.

Such remittances vary: some consisted of cash sent home (73.0 %), others were brought home. (22.3 %), while the rest was remitted in kind (4.8%).

NSO Administrator Carmeiita N. Ericta said that other cash remittances were sent through door to door (6.2%), agencies or local offices (4.7%), friends or co-workers (0.5%) or through other means (16.8%).

The largest total cash remittances amounting to 82.6 billion pesos were from OFWs working in Asia. She further said that about one in every three (32.7%) OFWs were laborers and unskilled workers. Around 15.5 percent worked as service workers and shop and market sales workers. OFWs who worked as plant and machine operators and assemblers comprised 13.6 percent, trade and related workers, l2.8 percent, and professionals, 10.6 percent.

As indicated in NSO’s report, it appeared that Saudi Arabia continued to be the Ieading destination of OFWs with 22.6 percent of the total OFWs working in this country during the period April to September 2011. The other countries in Asia which were popular destinations of OFWs were United Arab Emirates (14.6%), Qatar (6.9%), Singapore (6.3%) and Hong Kong (5.3%).

The report further shows that "the biggest number of OFWs came from CALABARZON, Central Luzon and NCR with i6.5 percent, 14.3 percent and 12.5 percent, respectively of the total OFWs originating from these regions.

Altogether, OFWs from these three regions comprised almost 43.3 Percent of the total OFWs.

Meanwhile, Caraga registered the smallest percent share of total OFWs at 1.6 percent.

Thus, how does Northern Mindanao rate in the number and percentage distribution of overseas Filipino workers by region of origin and place of work abroad?

Data show that in 2011 Northern Mindanao posted a 3.5 %  of the total OFW originating from this region. It increased slightly from 3.0 %  in 2010, which is very far behind compared to 16.5 % , of CALABARZON and even from that Western Visayas (8.5 %).

Such figures are similarly situated with the Social Climate report by Mahar Mangahas (first posted 03/25/2011) that OFW families are slightly over-represented in Metro Manila (15.3 percent), the Balance of Luzon (15.3 percent), and the Visayas (I4.0 percent). They are under-represented in Mindanao (9.0 percent)."

Given this set of data, one can give a number of implications- be it social or economic. However, in the framework of the Global Pinoy (De Leon, 2008), it illustrates that the modern Juan de la Cruz has empowered himself to broaden his horizons as he competes with the citizens of the world.

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TWO TOP TOURIST DESTINATIONS ARE IN NORMIN

SEVERAL  studies have been conducted to theorize the complex links that exist between the tourism industry and processes of economic development.

The study conducted by Milne and Ateljevic ( 2001) took the readers to the past three decades and allowed them to reach the conclusion with a discussion of the 'new' economic  geography of tourism, in which cultural and economic boundaries are being transcended across a variety of scales.

Other studies pointed out the importance of investigating the relationship between destination image and destination personality which were found to be related concepts, while the rest described the trends in developing traveler  destination choice models which covered important issues in need of resolution for making advances in understanding, describing and predicting tourist decision-making .

What lies ahead of the tourism industry entails more qualitative review of tourist decision-making literature.

However, findings of the 2010 Household Survey on Domestic Visitors (HSDV) conducted by the National Statistics Office (NS0) generated vital data/information which may be considered for planning and inputs in the analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats on the tourism industry in this part of the country.

The 2010 Household Survey on Domestic Visitors (HSDV) aimed to gather data on household information on domestic tourism that are vital to the effective and efficient development and implementation of tourism plans and programs. The data sought to provide core indicators on domestic tourism for policy-making purposes.

The survey yielded results that about 23.1 million Filipinos who are 15 years old and above have travelled within the country from April 1 to September 30, 2010. These  domestic travelers represent 36.6 percent of the estimated 63.2 million Filipinos who are 15 years old and over. In 2010, about 42,000 domestic trips were reported by the 23.1 million travelers, and 42,400  places were visited within the country.

It is interesting to note that 53.3 percent were trips for pleasure or vacation followed by, visit to friends or relatives and attendance to family gatherings with 36. 9 percent.

The NSO, in another report, said that during that year, 1, 864 establishments or 60.4 percent operated under Activities of Tour and Travel Agencies. The report was lifted from the results of the first-ever 2009 Survey of Tourism Establishments in the Philippines (STEP). The survey collected information on the available supply of tourism goods, products and services that are needed in the compilation of the Philippine Tourism Satellite Account (PTSA).

As revealed in the findings of the HSDV,  two of the most frequently visited places in Mindanao are seen in the Northern Mindanao Region. These are in particular the provinces of Lanao del Norte and Misamis Oriental.

Lanao del Norte obtained a total of 745,000 domestic travelers. Out of these total travelers, Lanao del Norte acquired a total of 457,000 domestic travelers whose purpose is for pleasure or vacation.

On the other hand, Misamis Oriental garnered a total of 806,000 domestic travelers. It received a total of 335,000 domestic travelers whose purpose is for pleasure or vacation. Such findings strengthened the description ascribed to Northern Mindanao as the eco-tourism hub of the Philippines because of its diverse environmental and cultural heritage (http://www.dfatip.ph/index.php/where-to-go/southphl/region10). Indeed, the region is proud of its tourist spots which cover the pristine beauty of the paradise island of Camiguin whose coastline alternates between black or white sand beaches and volcanic rocks, Bukidnons’ plateau cut by the deep and wide canyons, the beautiful twin falls of Maria Cristina Falls of Iligan City, the Dolphin Island in Sinacaban, the famous water rafting in Cagayan de Oro City. The city, and the renowned Divine Mercy Shrine at City of El Salvador at Misamis Oriental which is only 30 minutes away from Cagayan de 0ro City.

With such development, Northern Mindanao will have its own contribution to the tourism industry and realization of the statement of the Tourism Secretary, Hon. Secretary Ramon R. Jimenez Jr. when he said: "When the industry exceeds expectations as it had done last year, we feel very encouraged. And with the overwhelming response to our new brand campaign launched last month, we know that we have broken ground on crowd sourcing. The people's campaign will help bring more numbers."

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NorMin marriages, what does emerging pattern tell?

SHERI and Bob Strit’s article on Philippine marriages painted a very good picture of the Philippines, when they wrote: “If you assume that getting married in the Philippines is an easy process, you are mistaken.”

This implies that the legal aspects of Philippine marriages  have fully protected our people. They advised those who are not citizens of the Republic of the Philippines to take note of the required documents which would include a certificate of legal capacity to contract marriage.

   This means that any foreigner who wishes to marry in the Philippines is required by the Philippine Government to obtain from his/her Embassy a “Certificate or Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage” before filing an application for a marriage license.

This certification affirms that there are no legal impediments to the foreigner marrying a Filipino, which is indeed a very good protection especially for Filipinas who are to be married to foreigners.

Speaking of marriage, statistics show an emerging new trend for the month of most marriages.

Contrary to the practice which dates back to the ancient days of the Roman Empire which considered June as the popular month for weddings in honor of the month of Juno, the goddess of marriage, statistics show that the month of February topped with almost 3 thousand marriages in Northern Mindanao in 2010 according to the Vital Statistics Report of the National Statistics Office.

Not surprising  though, because February happens to be the LOVE month. However, the national figure showed that most of the couples opted for summer to get hitched. The month of April recorded the most number of registered marriages at 55, 705 or 11.5 percent of the total. The month of February followed closely at 11.1 percent.

            The marriage month of the Filipinos have shifted slightly as in the previous years. Aside from June, the month of May had been the most popular choice to tie the knot. Climate change might be the apparent reason for such shift, since May has turned out to be a rainy season.

However, the preferred month for weddings is not that vital. What is alarming to consider are the early marriages which have become a societal challenge in the contemporary era. It has been historically associated with a variety of undesirable results in the economy and family relationships, among  others.

Preliminary results of administrative – based data of the NSO show that in Northern Mindanao there were 21 marriages registered in 2011 to both male and female who were still teenagers and demographers see an increasing number in the succeeding years as premarital sex in the country is strongly opposed by moral standards.

Teenage marriages subsequently lead to teenage pregnancies. As discussed in earlier article, births to teenage mothers in the region are seen at approximately 5.2 percent of the country’s total. There were births also recorded to mother who were below 15 years old at the time of delivery. Consequently, as revealed by the Department of Education in their Basic Education Information System, 3.22 percent of the High School drop outs were due to early marriages/pregnancies.

Having a strong tradition of canon law, the country maintains marriage as  the foundation of the family and an inviolable social institution. While it is true that Filipinos cherish marriages and believe on its sanctity, statistics speak otherwise. Results of  the 2007 Census of Population show that for household population 10 years old and over for both sexes 30,224 or approximately 1.0 percent of the region’s total was either divorced or separated. The results also reveal that 754 teenagers reported that they are divorce/separated.

What is more alarming is another emerging development which shows that in the 2010 Census 11,262 teenagers reported that they are in “live – in” status. Median age at first marriage in the region according to the results of the National Demographic and Health Survey conducted by the NSO in 2008 was at 21.6 years old.

All these findings will not only be taken from the perspective of economics but also from its interplay with various social science perspectives, with the objective of highlighting implications for policy decisions.

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State of education in Normin: Improving or declining?

JUNE of every year invariably highlights the continuing efforts of the government towards quality improvements on education. While both state and civil society organizations have incessantly exerted significant efforts to address multifaceted problems that confront the educations system, results have fallen short of the mark. Because we fully believe that education is an engine of growth, we cannot avoid asking this question – “Where do we stand?”

            According to the 2008 Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS) conducted by the National Statistics Office, eight percent of the estimated 3.7 million population 6 years old and over in 2008 in Northern Mindanao had no formal education. This is somewhat high despite the government’s commitment to provide basic education to all Filipinos.

            The largest proportion of person aged 6 years and older in the region were elementary graders. About three out of 10 persons in that age group had attended elementary school but did not complete the elementary level. Those who had graduated from elementary, but did not proceed to the secondary level comprised 13 percent.

            About 18.6 percent reached high school but failed to complete it, whereas 14.9 percent had finished high school level. Likewise, 16.5 percent either had reached but did not complete college level (8.2 %) or had actually finished college or any higher level of education (8.3 %). By comparison, the female populations have higher percentage (10.1%) than the male population (6.6 %) for completing college or higher level of education.

            The 2008 FLEMMS results also show that of the 1.8 million populations aged 6-24 in the region, 34 percent or 624 thousand were not attending school. It might be paradoxical, but the survey results revealed that the foremost reason for not attending school was attributed to lack of personal interest which yielded 27.4 percent, despite the fact that the 1987 Constitution provides for free basic education.

            We cannot discount the fact that literacy level is directly related to economic development. From an economic perspective, literacy and schooling have been shown to significantly affect individual income. Empirical evidences show that formal education is highly instrumental and even necessary in improving the production capacity of a nation. Thus, illiteracy will undoubtedly limit the full development of individuals and their participation in society, and also restricts their access to the benefits of development.

            Looking further at the FLEMMS result, nine out of 10 persons in Northern Mindanao were basically literate. Basic or simple literacy is the ability of a person to read and write with understanding a simple message in language or dialect.

            Of the estimated 3.2 million 10 years old and over in Northern Mindanao, around 94 percent were basically literate. However, the region’s basic literacy rate was lower compared to the national figure of 96 percent.

            The basic literacy rate in 2008 was slightly higher than the 2003 rate of 92 percent. The basic literacy rate among females was 95.3 percent as compared to 92.6 percent among males.

            On the other hand, around 2.6 million or 85.9 percent of the estimated 3.1 million persons 10 to 64 years old in Northern Mindanao were functionally literate. In 2003, functional literacy rate was lower at 83.7 percent. A functionally literate person is one who can read, write and compute or one who can read, write, compute and comprehend. Persons who graduated from high school or completed a higher level of education are considered functionally literate.

            The functional literacy rate among females was higher than among males (88.4 percent vs. 83.5 percent).

            As expected, functional literacy rate of the population increases with an increasing level of education. Nine out 10 persons who have reached high school level but did not complete it were functionally literate. By comparison, eight out of 10 elementary graduates were functionally literate while around six in 10 persons with some elementary education were functionally literate. Only around four percent among those with no formal education were functionally literate.

            Survey results also show that seven out of 10 persons aged 10 to 64 years who are poor were functionally literate compared to nine out of 10 among the non-poor.

            In the 2008 FLEMMS, ownership of household amenities and conveniences are used as a substitute for income in order to classify the households into either poor or non-poor.

            Data on functional literacy among the poor and non-poor populations in each of the regions shows that the functional literacy rate of the poor was lower compared to the non-poor.

            The aforementioned findings may no longer sound new to many, but these are the realities that we have to face after knowing where we stand.

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