The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) conducted the Consultative Forum for the Philippine Statistical Development Program (PSDP) 2018-2023 Update from 16 to 18 February 2022. It was attended by a total of 459 participants from member agencies of different Interagency Committees (IAC) and other stakeholders from various sectors. The forum intended to solicit the views/inputs of all stakeholders on the identified statistical development programs (SDPs) which are aimed at addressing/producing the following:
statistical requirements of the Updated Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2017-2022 and its accompanying Results Matrices;
indicators other than those required by the Enhanced Updated PDP 2017-2022 Results Matrices; and
issues, challenges, and opportunities affecting data quality
The consultative forum started with the Welcome Remarks from PSA Undersecretary Dennis S. Mapa, National Statistician and Civil Registrar General, as delivered by OIC-Deputy National Statistician (OIC-DNS) Minerva Eloisa P. Esquivias. The message emphasized that the PSDP is a partner document of the PDP and has become a vital component and tool for evidence-based decision-making and policy formulation by various stakeholders.
The IAC Chairs presented the proposed major SDPs for the Chapters, including the issues and indicators, lead agency/ies, target year of implementation and the indicative budget. Forum outputs include clarified and/or resolved statistical issues, finalized statistical development programs/activities, and key issues flagged for discussion by relevant bodies. Some common concerns/issues that were raised pertain to data gaps, frameworks, innovations and subnational issues. Aside from these issues, integration of portals and registry and overall direction for capacity development were raised for consideration in the formulation of SDPs.
The open forum was moderated by Mr. John Frederick De Guia on the first day, focusing on the Demographic and Social Statistics Cluster. On the second day, Dr. Lisa Grace S. Bersales covered the Economic Statistics Cluster while Mr. Romeo S. Recide was on the PSS-Wide, Environment and Multi-Domain Statistics Cluster on the last day.
The three-day activity ended with a Closing Remarks from OIC-DNS Esquivias who thanked all the participants for the success of the consultative forum for the PSDP 2018-2023 Update. She expressed gratefulness that the PSS community is united in all undertakings for the continuous improvement of the PSS and in making Philippine statistics more relevant and responsive towards national development.
- Standards Service, Censuses and Technical Coordination Office
