Pursuant to Republic Act No. 11315 also known as Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) Act, PSA is mandated to conduct the CBMS synchronized data collection regularly every three (3) years. Each LGU is the primary data collecting authority for CBMS in their respective locality.
In line with this, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in collaboration with the city government of General Santos City, South Cotabato conducted a two-days supervision to the LGU-Suites during the last batch of training and data collection of the 2024 CBMS in the locality on 02-03 May 2024.
It was headed by Kristine Joy S. Briones, Assistant National Statistician of CBSS, including the Regional Director of PSA XII, Atty. Maqtahar L. Manulon, CESO V, Chief Statistical Specialist of PSA Sarangani, Mr. Ismael B. Ramos, Jr., officials and staff of LGU General Santos City, PSA Central Office, and PSA XII
ANS Briones and Atty. Manulon along with staff from PSA Central Office and PSA XII coordinated with the City Mayor, Hon. Lorelie G. Pacquiao at City Hall, General Santos City and conducted supervision in Brgy. Calumpang and Brgy. Labangal, Zone IV, General Santos City on 02-03 May 2024.
During the supervision, the PSA organized a meeting with the Team Leaders, Area Supervisors, and representatives from LGU Suite with the presence of the representatives from LGU General Santos City to discuss findings and observation during the activity for seamless operations to gather and generation of quality statistics in support to the assistance of PSA to LGU.
In the meeting, all staff from PSA Central Office and PSA XII presented their observations and raised their issues and concerns regarding the training and data collection conducted by the staff from LGU Suites. ANS Briones explained that the PSA is focused on General Santos City because LGU General Santos City coordinated with the PSA, seeking assistance to certify the data gathered by LGU Suite, which has significant funding allocated for operations.
She added, in statistics, if the data collection is poor, the analysis will also be poor. Therefore, the PSA supervises not only third-party operations but also those under PSA, particularly in data collection for CBMS, as the data will be used by DSWD to update the Listahanan. ANS Briones also mentioned that NS Mapa is very attentive to the CBMS data collection. She added that if there are any questions for the PSA coming from LGU Suites or LGU General Santos City, the PSA is ready to provide answers and clarifications
The activity concluded with a message from the LGU-Suites representative, who thanked the PSA for their observations and suggestions for improvement. CSS Ramos emphasized the importance of correctly interpreting questions and reviewing operational concepts if data collectors encounter difficulties. He also assured that support is available from the PSA Central Office, Regional Office, and Provincial Office, and he thanked the participants for their active involvement.
