MANILA: Provinces in Luzon topped the list of best performing provinces in human development, while those in Mindanao languished at the bottom, the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) 2012/2013 Philippine Human Development Report (PHDR) showed yesterday.
The report, which analysed the human development index (HDI) of all the provinces in the country from 1997 to 2009, showed the inequality across regions in the country, along with the slow pace of development during the period covered, UNDP said.
Benguet topped the list in 2009 with a 0.849 HDI, followed by Batanes (0.789), Rizal (0.734), Cavite (0.709), Bulacan (0.699), Bataan (0.698), Laguna (0.695), Nueva Vizcaya (0.678), Ilocos Norte (0.641) and Pampanga (0.634).
On the other hand, Lanao del Sur (0.416), Masbate (0.406), Zamboanga del Norte (0.384), Sarangani (0.371), Davao Oriental (0.356), Agusan del Sur (0.354), Zamboanga Sibugay (0.353); Tawi-Tawi (0.310), Maguindanao (0.300) and Sulu (0.266) occupied the bottom of the list. “Most of the 10 lowest-ranked provinces are conflict-ridden. Previous PHDRs have consistently shown that the bottom 10 provinces in almost every aspect of human development are also the most conflict-ridden ones,” UNDP noted.
Based from scores in 1997, the most improved provinces included Benguet, Biliran, Cagayan, Nueva Vizcaya, Catanduanes, Quirino, South Cotabato, Aurora, Bohol and Eastern Samar.
The biggest losers, meanwhile, included Davao Oriental, Maguindanao, Batangas, Zamboanga del Norte, Quezon, Basilan, Laguna, Rizal, Tawi-tawi and Batanes.
Overall, the Philippines posted a 0.654 average HDI. Life expectancy is 69 years, number of years of expected schooling is 11.7 years and gross national income per capita is $3,752, the report said.
It added that La Union has the highest life expectancy at 76.4 years, 22.8 years more than the bottom province of Tawi-Tawi with 53.6 years.
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