‘Antique low population growth could be due to adult migration’
Antique Provincial Population Officer Felimon Ebon said while there is no significant decline noted in the birth rate in the province, its population growth rate is among the lowest in the country.
Ebon theorized that the low population growth could be due to the very high migration rate of the Antiqueños.
“We don’t see much decline in the birth rate as our crude birth rate data remains the same these past years. It’s due to the high migration rate especially among young adult Antiqueños as most of our new college graduates move to the cities to work,” Ebon said.
“Every year especially after graduation, thousands of college graduates go to Iloilo City, Cebu or Manila to find work. Some even go abroad specifically our nurses and skilled workers,” she added.
Based in the 2007 data of the National Census and Statistics Office, Antique’s population growth rate is 1.19 percent.
This is about half of the country’s prevailing population growth rate of 2.2 percent.
Provincial Population Office data show the central town of Laua-an with a total population of 23,808 in 2007 has the least growth rate at .32 percent followed by Anini-y with a population of 20,097 at .33 percent; Valderrama with a population of 18,878 at .76 percent; Sebaste with population of 15,840 at .78 percent; and Tibiao with a population of 23,228 at .90 percent.
The island municipality of Caluya, on the other hand, posted the highest growth rate of 3.39 percent, which according to Ebon is due to influx of workers to the Semirara Coal Corp. which employs thousands of employees.
The capital town of San Jose de Buenavista also posted the second highest growth rate at 1.79 percent due also to the influx of workers in both government and private offices.
The municipalities with higher than one percent population growth rate are Libertad, 1.71 percent; Barbaza, 1.49 percent; Hamtic, 1.43 percent; Tobias Fornier, 1.19 percent; San Remigio, 1.18 percent; and Sibalom, 1.06 percent.
San Jose has surpassed Sibalom in population with 54,871 as against the latter’s 53,934. They are followed by Hamtic with a total population of 42,375; Culasi with 37,100; and Patnongon with 33,694.*PNA
