Is Lanao del Sur Really Neglected by the Government?

In an article in Philippine News Agency, it said:

ARMM, Lanao del Sur to delete province from poorest list

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COTABATO CITY, Feb 23 (PNA) -- After long years of government neglect, the people of Lanao del Sur can now see change is indeed coming after officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and the provincial government have started mapping out anti-poverty strategies that will remove the province from the list of country's poorest, an official said Thursday.

So I searched government websites to find data on how much the government has spent to help the Meranaos from their humiliating poverty. And here's what I found in The Official Gazzette:

Investments in infrastructure

• From 2011 to 2016, total infrastructure allocation reached P6.00 billion, almost 5 times the allocation from 2005 to 2010 which was only at P1.25 billion.

• 41 billion was allocated for roads and bridges, almost 5 times the P899.42 million allocation from 2005 to 2010.

• 29 million was allocated for flood control projects.

Investments in people

• As of January 2016, the Pantawid Pamilya Program has provided cash grants amounting to P1.09 billion in exchange for school attendance and health check-ups to 104,730 poor households in the province, more than 14 times the 7,145 households enrolled as of 30 June 2010.

• In 2015, 3,403 children of Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries in the province graduated from high school.

• 885,330 individuals, which is 88% of the projected 2015 population, are covered by PhilHealth as of May 2015. In 2010, PhilHealth coverage nationwide was only at 50.97%, much lower compared to the 92.11% nationwide coverage as of December 2015.

• From 2010 to 2014, a total of P162.52 million was obligated to improve existing health facilities in the province which include: 60 barangay health stations (BHS); 23 rural health units (RHUs); and 11 hospitals. Further, a total of P117.25 million was allocated to improve 1 BHS, 41 RHUs, and 5 hospitals from 2015 to 2016.

• In 2015, 12,498 indigent senior citizens were provided with social pension in the amount of P44.04 million.

• 761 classrooms were completed in the province. 556 more are already funded for construction until 2016.

• 19,402 children have been fed in day care centers in the province in SY 2015-2016 as of 29 February 2016 under the Supplementary Feeding Program. Nationwide, the program was expanded to improve the nutrition not just of malnourished children but all children in day care centers through food supplementation for 120 feeding days.

• From AY 2011-2012 to AY 2014-2015, P12.83 million in scholarship grants was awarded by the government to college students in the province.

• For 2016, the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) for all LGUS in the province was P66 billion, 50.70% higher than the IRA for the province for 2010 which was only P3.76 billion. (There maybe mistake in this. 66B is not 50.70% higher than 3.76. But that figure is what is written on the government website.)

ConstructionWeeklyOnline.com published on Feb 10, 2013 that "Saudi Arabia is expected to provide a $100M (SAR 375m) soft loan to a variety of road projects in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in the Philippines, according to a high-ranking official from that area."

The road projects are expected to be completed in May 2014 and include the: 

East Diversion Road, $17.4m (SAR 65.3m);

Lake Lanao Circumferential Road from Marawi City to Bayang, $10.1m (SAR 38m);

Lake Lanao Circumferential Road from Bayang to Ganassi $10.3m (SAR 38.7m);

Basilan Circumferential Road from Tumahubong to Isabela $10.3m (SAR 38.7m);

and the Basilan Circumferential Road from Isabela to Sumisip $10.1m (SAR 38.2m).Filippino Islamic region

Journalist Ali Macabalang who first shared the link above said on Facebook said that "an update from the host provincial government...will be in order."

So, is Lanao del Sur really neglected by the government?

Or we just failed to make the most of what we have and what we are receiving from the government, and we kept on making ourselves look pitiable, always the victim, to keep on getting aid instead of focusing our efforts for self-sufficiency?

(And out of the blue, Anti-Mendicancy Law flashed in my mind.)