The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) granted clearance for the conduct of the 2021 Pilot Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS).  The 2021 Pilot CBMS will be the first to be led by the PSA after the approval of the Republic Act 11315 otherwise known as the CBMS Act of 2018. This activity will be conducted in coordination with local government units (LGUs), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), among others.

Under RA 11315, the CBMS aims:

a. To adopt a community-based monitoring system which generates updated and disaggregated data necessary in targeting beneficiaries;
b. To conduct more comprehensive poverty analysis and needs prioritization;
c. To design appropriate policies and interventions;
d. To provide mechanism for impact monitoring over time;
e. To provide information that will enable a system of public spending that warrants government allocation on areas and populace that are most wanting;
f. To establish a data collection, data sharing, and information management system which shall respect the fundamental human right to privacy, ensure data quality, and uphold data protection principles of legitimate purpose, transparency, and proportionality;
g. To establish CBMS database at the national and city/municipal level; and
h. To generate relevant statistics at higher levels that will complement and supplement the local level data.

Further, the general objective of the 2021 Pilot CBMS is to conduct a full-scale enumeration in selected areas in order to test the procedures recommended for use in the actual CBMS in 2022 and to improve any aspect, if necessary. Specifically, it aims:

a. To test the revised questionnaires/forms and tablet-based data collection applications;
b. To test geotagging/map-based systems;
c. To evaluate field operations procedures and standard protocols in CBMS implementation;
d. To identify other problems that may arise during enumeration and devise solutions and measures to avoid or mitigate these issues in the conduct of CBMS;
e. To test the applications and procedure for monitoring data collection, data submission, validation, data processing and tabulation;
f. To generate statistics on the pilot areas;
g. To establish geodatabase or geographic datasets containing CBMS information as attributes integrated to the vector data, that is, geo-points for buildings and polygons for barangay/city/municipal boundaries;
h. To develop and evaluate CBMS advocacy and coordinating mechanisms; and
i. To provide inputs for the CBMS resource

The CBMS will be piloted this year in the following nine (9) cities/municipalities in partnership with the LGU concerned:

1. San Gabriel, La Union
2. Santa Maria, Isabela
3. Samal, Bataan
4. Sipalay, Negros Occidental
5. Dauin, Negros Oriental
6. City of Baybay, Leyte
7. City of Bayugan, Agusan del Sur
8. City of Baguio
9. Sual, Pangasinan

The conduct of the pilot CBMS in the first seven cities/municipalities from the list above will be spearheaded by PSA while the last two city/municipality (City of Baguio and Sual, Pangasinan) will be spearheaded by the LGU.

About 200,000 households in these nine pilot areas will be interviewed from 04 October to 02 December 2021. Target release of publication of 2021 Pilot CBMS Results is in April 2022.

Major data items to be collected in this undertaking include the following:

a. Data on the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the population as well as selected household-level and housing characteristics
b. Data on general information about the barangay LGU, physical characteristics of the barangay, service institutions, and infrastructures
c. Data on geolocation; and
d. General information about service facilities, government projects and natural resources.

The 2021 Pilot CBMS was reviewed and cleared for conduct under the Statistical Survey Review and Clearance System (SSRCS), a mechanism being implemented by the PSA by virtue of Rule 28 of Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 10625 to:

a. ensure sound design for data collection,
b. minimize the burden placed upon respondents,
c. effect economy in statistical data collection,
d. eliminate unnecessary duplication of statistical data collection efforts, and
e. achieve better coordination of government statistical activities.

In line with this, the PSA and the LGUs enjoin the public in the selected areas to support the 2021 Pilot CBMS by providing the required aboved-information. An authorized PSA and LGU interviewer will visit the households to conduct a personal interview.

For further information on SSRCS, please contact the Statistical Standards Division of the Standards Service with telephone numbers (02) 8376-1928 and (02) 8376-1931, and email address: ssd.staff@psa.gov.ph or ssdss.staff@gmail.com.

DENNIS S. MAPA, Ph.D.
Undersecretary
National Statistician and Civil Registrar General

See more at the Statistical Survey Review and Clearance System (SSRCS) landing page.