No electricity for 40 percent of Filipinos

TWO in every five Filipino families below the poverty line do not have electricity in their homes, according to the National Statistics Office (NSO).

Based on the results of the 2007 Annual Poverty Indicators Survey, the agency said that 38 percent of families in the bottom 30-percent income stratum do not have electricity in their homes compared to 6.5 percent among families in the upper 70-percent income stratum.

The bottom 30 percent of all families in the survey represent the poor families.

At the national level, 16 percent of all families do not have electricity, the NSO said.

It added that the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has the highest percentages of families without electricity.

The agency said that almost 83 percent of the total number of families surveyed have access to a safe source of water supply. “Considered as clean and safe sources of water supply are community water systems and protected wells.”

The remaining 17 percent of the families obtain their water from sources considered unsafe, such as unprotected wells, 5.7 percent; developed springs, 4.8 percent; undeveloped springs, 1.9 percent; rivers, streams, ponds, lakes or dams, 1.1 percent; rainwater, 0.4 percent; tanker trucks or peddlers, 2.3 percent; and other sources, 0.8 percent.

“Nine in 10 families that belong to the upper 70-percent income stratum have access to safe water compared to seven in 10 families in the bottom 30-percent income stratum,” NSO said.

Four regions have over 90 percent of their families with access to safe water. These are Central Luzon, 93.8 percent; Cagayan Valley, 92.6 percent; Ilocos, 91.2 percent; and the National Capital Region (Metro Manila), 90.9 percent.

In ARMM, less than half or 48.1 percent of the families have access to safe water.

The NSO said that 88.4 percent of Filipino families use sanitary toilets.

Sanitary toilets refer to flush toilets (either owned or shared) and the closed-pit type.

Other families use open pit, 3.5 percent; drop or overhang, 1.4 percent; pail system, 0.7 percent; and other types of toilets, 0.3 percent—all considered as unsanitary toilets.

There are 5.7 percent families without toilet facilities in their homes at all, the NSO said.

“Poor families are more likely to use an unsanitary toilet than non-poor families. The percentage of poor families without sanitary toilet at home is 26.2 percent compared to 5.4 percent among non-poor families,” the agency added.

It said that 69 percent of families in the country own the house and lot they occupy.

The remaining 31 percent occupy houses and lots under the following tenure: own house, rent-free lot with consent of owner 12.8 percent; rent house/room including lot, 7.5 percent; rent-free house and lot with consent of owner, 4.8 percent; own house, rent-free lot without consent of owner, 3.4 percent; own house, rent lot, 2.7 percent; and rent-free house and lot without consent of owner, 0.3 percent.

Among the families in the upper 70-percent income stratum, 70.4 percent own their house and lot while among the bottom 30-percent income stratum, 64.1 percent do. –Darwin G. Amojelar, Senior Reporter, Manila Times