 Mr. JEMaturan with Brgy. Tanod Tatay Florencio and his wife |
Ocular Visits at the Margins: Understanding Poverty Beyond Statistics
As an Area Coordinator, it is part of my core responsibility to conduct ocular visits across urban barangays in the Province of Leyte—specifically within the municipalities of Tabango, San Isidro, and Villaba. While these barangays are officially classified as urban by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), my focus goes beyond labels. I intentionally visit sitios or puroks where indigent and economically vulnerable residents live, to assess the real and lived conditions of poverty on the ground.
The purpose of these assessments is clear and consequential. When findings indicate that 60 percent or more of the population in a specific area is living below the poverty threshold, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) conducts a saturation enumeration. This process ensures that all households in the affected area are included in the Third Round Household Assessment of the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR)—a critical gateway for national government assistance and social protection programs.
Within my assigned area, three barangays fall under the PSA’s urban classification: Barangay Campokpok and Barangay Poblacion in Tabango, Leyte, and Barangay Crossing in San Isidro, Leyte. My first ocular visit brought me to Barangay Campokpok—an area that immediately challenged conventional assumptions about what “urban” truly means.
Barangay Campokpok: Urban in Name, Rural in Reality
Barangay Campokpok is composed of 24 sitios or puroks, many of which are scattered across remote and mountainous terrain. The barangay is bordered by Cagnocot in Villaba, Leyte, and by the mountainous areas of the Municipality of Leyte, Leyte. Accessibility varies widely, and for some sitios, physical isolation remains a daily reality.
One such sitio is Sitio Tahad—a place reachable only by dirt roads and narrow man trails. Motorcycles can access the area only during sunny days; once the rains come, the muddy paths become nearly impassable. Ironically, what makes the area difficult for residents also makes it attractive to outsiders. The site is ideal for picnics and adventurous motorcycle rides, offering crisp mountain air and a breathtaking view of the cultivated lower slopes, planted with vegetables and other crops.
Standing at the peak, breathing the fresh air, one might momentarily forget that this beauty is paired with deep vulnerability.
Life in Sitio Tahad: Farming, Faith, and Fragility
The people of Sitio Tahad are warm, welcoming, and accommodating—even to strangers like me. During my visit, I met Mrs. Cerela Talle, the wife of a farmer. Her husband, Mr. Florencio Talle, serves as one of the Barangay Tanods of Barangay Campokpok and resides in Sitio Tahad. Like most residents, their livelihood depends almost entirely on farming.
The name “Tahad” itself carries historical and cultural meaning. Locally, tahad-tahad refers to the traditional practice of land claiming, where families cultivate a portion of land—planting rice, vegetables, and other crops—only to abandon it later and move on in search of more fertile soil. This cycle of cultivation and transfer has shaped livelihoods in the area for generations. While adaptive in nature, it also reflects the lack of land security and sustainable agricultural support.
Today, Sitio Tahad is divided into two areas:
- Tahad 1, located near Mt. Cantur-aw, with 93 households
- Tahad 2, situated north of Tahad 1, with 82 households
Farming remains the primary—and often the only—source of income. There are few alternative livelihoods, no nearby markets, and only a handful of sari-sari stores located miles away from most homes. Access to basic goods, healthcare, and education requires time, effort, and financial resources that many families struggle to afford.
Beyond Ocular Visits: A Call to See and Act
This visit reminded me that poverty is not always visible in statistics alone. It is found along muddy roads, in isolated sitios, and in communities officially labeled “urban” yet living with deeply rural hardships. Ocular visits are not mere compliance with duty; they are acts of seeing, listening, and understanding.
Meeting families like the Talles reinforces why inclusive assessments such as the NHTS-PR matter. Development must be grounded in reality, not assumptions. Programs must reach the peaks of the mountains, not stop at the poblacion.
As I continue my work, I carry these encounters with me—not just as data points, but as stories, faces, and lives that deserve to be counted, supported, and uplifted. True social development begins when we choose to walk the dirt roads and acknowledge the realities at the margins.
No comments:
Post a Comment