PROVINCES in Luzon emerged as the top places were human development is at its highest, based on the data from 2009 Provincial Human Development Index (HDI).

In a dissemination forum, the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSBC) explained that human development, as defined by the United Nations Development Program, is a process of enlarging people’s choices. The three essential and critical goals for human development are for everyone to be healthy, to get educated and to have a decent standard of living.

The statistical board noted that following the framework, the Philippine Human Development Index (PHDI) focuses on three dimensions of human development: health, as measured by life expectancy; education, as measured by mean and expected years of schooling; and income, as measured by real capita income.

NSCB’s partner, the Human Development Network (HDN) said that the 2009 Provincial HDI covered 79 provinces and Metro Manila.

Overall, the index said that 51 out of 79 provinces are in the medium-HDI range corresponding to 0.5 to 0.79. It also noted that while two provinces are with Metro Manila in the high-HDI range corresponding to 0.8 and above, the rest however, corresponded with .5 HDI and below.

Benguet is highest
The provincial HDI revealed that the provinces with the highest HDI level in Luzon is Benguet with 0.88 level, followed by Batanes (0.82), Rizal (0.76), Cavite (0.73), Bulacan, Bataan and Laguna (both 0.72), Nueva Vizcaya (0.70), Ilocos Norte (0.66), and Pampanga (0.65).

In terms of the top 10 lowest HDI, almost all were from Mindanao with the exception of Masbate province.

Sulu province has the lowest HDI of 0.27, followed by followed by the provinces of Maguindanao (0.31), Tawi-Tawi (0.32), Zamboanga Sibugay and Agusan del Sur (both 0.36), Davao Oriental (0.37), Sarangani (0.38), Zamboanga del Norte (0.39), Masbate (0.42) and Lanao del Sur (0.43).

“On average, the HDI of the top 10 provinces is twice the HDI of the bottom 10 provinces,” HDN stated.

In the life expectancy index, La Union topped all provinces with 76.4 years, followed by Cavite, Misamis Occidental, Benguet and Bulacan.

People die earliest here
Tawi-Tawi has the lowest life expectancy with 53.6 years, followed by Sulu, Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur and Ifugao.

“The top province, La Union, has a life expectancy 22.8 years greater than the bottom province, Tawi-Tawi,” HDN added.

On the other hand, PHDI also showed the provinces’ education index, which has two indicators such as the mean years of schooling for adults, or a more frequent, broader coverage, better discriminatory power than literacy; and the expected years of schooling, or how many years of schooling, on average, children are expected to attain adulthood.

Batanes province recorded the highest years of schooling of adults with 11.5 years, followed by the provinces of Benguet, Rizal, Cavite and Misamis Oriental.

Adults with the lowest years of schooling can be found in Sulu with 4.6 years, followed by the provinces of Sarangani, Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao and Ifugao.

“On average, adults in the top five provinces have 10.1 years of schooling, 73 percent more than adults in the bottom five provinces,” HDN continued.

In terms of expected years of schooling, Benguet topped all provinces with 14 years, followed by Camiguin, Mt. Provinces, Aklan and Siquijor.

Maguindanao province had the lowest years of schooling with 10.1 years, followed by Davao Oriental, Sarangani, Bukidnon and Camarines Norte.

“Children in Benguet are expected to attain about four more years of schooling in adulthood, on average, than their counterparts in Maguindanao,” HDN further said.

In the income index, Benguet has the highest living standard with real per capita purchasing power of 8.04, followed by Batanes, Rizal, Bataan and Laguna.

Sulu has the lowest real per capita purchasing power of 2.26, followed by Maguindanao, Zambonga Sibugay, Tawi-Tawi and Agusan Del Sur.

“On average, the real per capita purchasing power of a ‘top 5’ province is almost three times more the real per capita purchasing power of a ‘bottom-5’ province,” HDN mentioned.