Three Cebu LGUs Chosen as Pilot Areas for ASAPP

(PIA-7) – Three local government units (LGUs) in Cebu province have been identified as pilot areas for the Accelerated and Sustainable Anti-Poverty Program (ASAPP), a poverty reduction program spearheaded by National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and Human Development and Poverty Reduction Cabinet Cluster (HDPRC).

These are the municipalities of Dalaguete, Santa Fe, and Tuburan.

During the program’s launching held Thursday at Capitol, Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras explained that ASAPP is an inter-agency effort seeking to reduce poverty by creating sustainable employment and income-generating opportunities.

He said the program aims to seek out initiatives, solve problems, and roll out solutions addressing poverty-related issues that will be implemented as soon as possible.

Through ASAPP, participating LGUs will come up with an economic program that will address the poverty issues in their locality.

“Mag-abot ta para magkasinabot ta kung unsa ang angayan natong buhatun (Let’s come up with a unified plan on what we need to do),” urged Almendras.

He stressed that ASAPP is not a “one size fits all” measure, as each LGU will come up with their own development plans.

According to NEDA, Cebu is identified as one of the ten provinces under C1 category, which has the highest number of poor households despite its booming industry.

Other identified pilot areas are in the provinces of Pangasinan, Quezon, Camarines Sur, Negros Occidental, Iloilo, Cebu, Leyte, Zamboanga del Sur, Davao del Sur, and Sulu. (rmn/Caren Gabisay, PIA7)