For a very long time now, reducing the number of people who are considered poor has been a major objective of the national and local governments.

Poverty can be measured by income. When this is compared to expenses, a poverty line or threshold is arrived at. Below this income threshold or level, a person is considered poor.

In the Eastern Visayas Region, the last time such a poverty line was officially set was in 2000. It was pegged at P9,623.00 per person per year. For a family of six (the average family size) this is around P58,000. Since this data is for 2000 - we can estimate what it would be in 2004 by factoring in the 2000-2004 inflation rate of 20 percent. So, it would be around P11,600 plus P58,000 or around P70,000 in 2004. (You might be calculating now how near or far you are from the poverty line)

In 2000, 37.8 percent of families in this region had incomes lower than this. Thus, categorizing them as belonging to the poverty groups.

The number is high in rural areas (44.5 percent) and low in urban areas (19 percent).

It is, therefore, obvious where government must place its projects -in rural areas.

Since income is the basis for determining poverty, then these projects must have the effect of adding to family income.

To repeat, these would then be projects, which enable families in rural areas to earn more income.
The most obvious would be projects that increase farm production and, more importantly, increases income after selling the harvest and deducting all the expenses.

Good roads reduce transport cost, thus increasing income. In this sense well-paved roads influence the income of rural families. Conversely, bad roads reduce the income of families in rural areas.

New farming technologies are also good examples. They enable farmers to produce more per hectare of land. If prices are stable, more production means more income. Any project that enhances agri-business should be priority especially if the products can be exported. There are many other projects of this type.
Those that promote off-farm employment such as processing of coconut, abaca and rice have a high impact on increasing rural incomes because they represent an increase in the utilization of rural labor.
What I tried to explain here is the priority that must be given to projects which increase income from the resources of rural communities. We should keep track of these as much as we keep track of poverty.