Bohol has barely made it to the medium level of human development index (HDI) report for 2009 that was released recently by the National Statistics Coordination Board (NDCB). Bohol managed to score a 0.501 HDI or barely within the medium level of 0.500-0.700. The Province of Benguet topped the list with an HDI of 0.883. The HDI report is being updated every three years. The United Nations Development Program defines HDI as a process of enlarging peoples choices which can change over time but at all levels of development, the three essential ones are for people to live long and healthy live, to acquire knowledge and to have access to resources needed for decent standard of living. Living long and healthy life is measured by life expectancy; knowledge is measured by enrollment and literacy rate; and access to resources needed for a decent standard of living is measured by real per capita income. The top ten (10) provinces in the high HDI level, those that have 0.800 and above led by Benguet are all coming from Luzon area while the top bottom ten (10) in the low HDI level (below 0.500) are from Mindanao. Sulu is the lowest with 0.276.

In Central Visayas Cebu has the highest with 0.624, followed by Oriental Negros with 0.524 while Siquijor has 0.489. Throughout Visayas Biliran tops with 0.655 followed by Iloilo with 0.643, Leyte – 0.588, Capiz – 0.543, Guimaras -0.532, Negros Occidental – 0.524, Antique – 0.513, and Southern Leyte – 0.508. Over all the Philippines has an HDI of 0.633 or medium HDI level, two ranks down from its 112th place in the last previous rating among 187 countries. In the map posted by NSCB Bohol is among the 26 provinces that moved down in rank after being matched with inequality adjusted HDI (I-HDI) for distribution. One good news though is that Bohol’s HDI ranks higher than its per capita income by +8 difference. UNDP says this means Bohol has leveraged its resources relatively well for human development. Of the top ten provinces in the same category, Bohol is No. 3. Albay and Misamis Occidental share being No. 1 with +12 followed by La Union with +9.

This UNDP HDI report is an eye opener for development planning. The same indicators used by UNDP are good indicators not only of development but also of governance spread over geographical expanse. Bohol’s framework of development popularly known as HEAT IT Bohol will be better achieved using the HDI. Poverty reduction which is the ultimate impact sought to be attained in the end is better measured in longer life span of Boholanos, the number of young Boholanos finding jobs after graduation, and the average income that each family earn annually. Allowing LGUs to plan using their HDI levels in every area will bring development where the people are and not the other way around. The latter will congest people in places where there is perceived availability of resources without necessarily improving their quality of life. Using HDI areas as useful reference will make plans more strategic and therefore result in more measurable impacts. Moreover, it is more responsive to the real needs of the people in their locality resulting to preventing wastage of resources by duplication.

NOTES. The reported overflow of voters registering for the SK and Barangay Elections in October this year was quite surprising given that the last election was only less than three months ago. The big number defies explanation. It was understandable if those lining up to register as early as 4:00 o’clock in the morning were 15 years old who were registering for the first time. But adult, some of whom were senior citizens wanting to register? Why didn’t they during the last elections? Where were they? Congratulations to Gov. Edgar M. Chatto on his election as Secretary-General of the League of Provinces of the Philippines. It is a position that will give him prominence nationwide. Congratulations also to Kag. Tonypet Ouano of Getafe on his election as the new President of the Philippine Councilors League of the Philippines – Bohol Chapter. He will sit as ex-officio member of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Bohol. He replaces Kag. Ramonito Torrefranca of Carmen whom he defeated in an election for the new officers of PCL-Bohol last Friday.