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MACRO-ECONOMY |
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Political Composition |
Per Executive Order No. 36
issued on 19 September 2001,
Region XII is composed of the
provinces of North Cotabato,
Sarangani, South Cotabato and
Sultan Kudarat, and the cities
of Cotabato, General Santos,
Kidapawan, Koronadal and
Tacurong. The City of Koronadal
has been designated as the
administrative center of Region
XII by virtue of Executive Order
No. 304, series of 2004. |
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Land Area |
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Region XII has a total land area
of 19,165.87 sq. km., which is
about 17% of the total land area
of Mindanao. Among the four
provinces of the region, North
Cotabato has the biggest land
area at 6,019.78 sq. km., which
is about 30.4% of the region’s
land area. The smallest among
the provinces is Sultan Kudarat
with a land area of 4,401.06 sq.
km.
Among the five cities of the
region, General Santos City has
the biggest land area at 668.49
sq. km., with Tacurong City as
the smallest with a land area of
161.96 sq. km. |
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Population |
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The population of
Region XII in 2007 was 3.829
million. This was almost 18% of
Mindanao’s total population.
The average annual population
growth rate from 2000 to 2007
was 2.41%.
The population
density of Region XII increased
from 168 in 2000 to 169 persons
per square kilometer in 2007.
Cotabato City and General Santos
City are the most densely
populated areas in the region
with densities of 1,472 and
1,074 persons per sq. km.,
respectively in 2007.
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Poverty |
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Poverty incidence or the
proportion of families who are
poor or are living below the
poverty threshold was estimated
at about 34 for every 100
households in 2006. The annual
poverty threshold or the minimum
amount needed by each person in
2006 to be able to buy his basic
needs for food, clothing and
shelter was estimated at
P14,225.00 per annum. |
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Employment |
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Employment rate
as of July 2008 was estimated at
95.2 percent, which is
translated to a total of 1.548
million employed persons.
Unemployment rate was recorded
at 4.8 percent, while
underemployment rate was
estimated at 26.6 percent, an
improvement of about 0.4
percentage points from the
previous year’s figure. |
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Inflation |
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A double-digit
average inflation rate of 11.6
percent was recorded in 2008,
reflecting an increase of 8.2
percentage points from last
year’s estimate of 3.4 percent.
Monthly inflation rate in 2008
was at an increasing trend from
6.3% in January, and was at its
peak of 18.9% in June, then
slowed down to 10% by the end of
the year. |
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SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT |
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Family Health and
Immunizations |
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Under
family health and
immunization, there was
an improvement in the
percentage of pregnant
women or mothers who
were given immunization,
from 58.0 percent in
2007 to 60.35 percent in
2008. However, the 2008
figure remained low as
it was way below the
annual target of 80
percent coverage for
fully immunized mothers.
For immunization of
children
(Fully-Immunized
Children), the coverage
improved from 77.52
percent in 2007 to 79.74
percent in 2008 which
has been perceived to
have contributed to the
improvement in the
incidence of infant
mortality. The figure
on FIC, however, is far
below the regional
target of 95 percent
coverage for
immunization of
children; hence, the
region has to exert more
effort to be able to
achieve the annual
regional target as
specified in the updated
plan. |
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Infant Mortality |
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The
infant mortality rate (IMR)
or the number of
children who died below
one year old slightly
improved as the
incidence decreased from
4.85 in 2007 to 4.61 for
every 1,000 live births
in 2008. The increase
in the coverage of
immunization of children
was perceived to have
contributed to this
improvement.
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Maternal Mortality |
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There was
a slight increase,
however, in the number
of women who died due to
pregnancy or childbirth
(maternal mortality
rate), from 67.19 in
2007 to 67.92 for every
100,000 live births in
2008. Similar to the
previous years,
post-partum hemorrhage
remained as the leading
cause of maternal deaths
in 2008. |
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Water and Sanitation |
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The proportion of
households with access
to safe water has
improved, from 85.43
percent in 2007 to 86.99
percent in 2008, posting
an increase of 1.56
percentage points.
However, there was a
slight decrease in the
proportion of households
with sanitary toilets,
from 75.76 percent in
2007 to 74.17 percent in
2008. The
accomplishment remained
low as it was way below
the regional annual
target of having 91
percent of households
with access to sanitary
toilets up to 2010. |
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Participation Rate |
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For
School Year 2007-2008,
participation rate in
both elementary and
secondary schools are
quite low. About 72.99
percent of school age
children were enrolled
in elementary schools
and only 39.86 percent
were enrolled in
secondary schools.
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