It is a bit difficult to categorize the way the region's economy performed in the first quarter. However, it is safe to say we are at par with the national performance.

Comparing data from different government agencies for the first quarter 2005 performance with that of the first quarter of 2004, palay production grew by 7.24 percent while copra grew by 1.8 percent. Fish production was up by 13.5 percent. Energy sold by our geothermal power plants grew by 3.5 percent.

On the negative side, the inflation rate of 7.0 percent substantially negated improvements in production. Unemployment stood at 9.2 percent, higher than the 7.6 percent recorded for the first quarter of 2004.

Abaca fiber production went down by 2.46 percent.

We can see that our agricultural sector is having increases for the most part, but then the situation in abaca production is shaky.

It seems that our farmers who also double up as fishermen are trying to make up for lost farm income by going more into fishing.

There are other indicators worth noting. Business names registration was up by 20.49 percent and airline passenger traffic increased by 7.37 percent showing an improvement in the ability of higher income groups to go into business.

All in all, the region remained steady and able to withstand the impact of oil price increases that confronted the country. However, successive negative trends like those described above will slow down the economy and severely constrain the ability of the national government to reduce poverty.