The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) MIMAROPA data shows 20,749 poor widows regionwide based on the 2015 Listahanan assessment.
Listahanan is a government mechanism to map out who and where the poor are nationwide.
The database reveals that from the total identified poor widows, 4,831 (23.3 percent) are male; 15,918 (76.7%) are female. Also, there are 1,419 poor widows having a disability.
There are 5,656 poor widows in Oriental Mindoro; 3,723 in Occidental Mindoro; 1,536 in Marinduque; 2,718 in Romblon; and 7,116 in Palawan.
The average age of poor widows is 60 years old.
Puerto Princesa City in Palawan records highest poor widows with 1,064, followed by San Jose in Occidental Mindoro with 1,030, and Naujan town in Oriental Mindoro with 636.
On the other hand, Bancalaan and Mangsee villages in Balabac, Palawan top with the highest number of barangays with poor widows.
International Widows’ Day was introduced to address poverty and injustice faced by widows and their children in many countries. It was officially recognized by the United Nations in 2010 and is observed annually on June 23.
