On 17 January 2024, the Philippine Statistics Authority – Regional Statistical Services Office I (PSA - RSSO I) and PSA - La Union conducted the Data Turnover Ceremony (DTC) in the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Bacnotan, La Union, the last DTC conducted among the seven LGUs that participated in the 2022 Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) in the province of La Union.

Honorable Mayor Divina C. Fontanilla, together with Honorable Vice-Mayor Francisco Angelito L. Fontanilla and key officials of LGU Bacnotan, attended the event. Atty. Michael John Borja, Local Government Operations Officer II (LGOO II) of the Department of the lnterior and Local Government (DILG) and Shaira Mae Linmayo, Project Development Officer of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), were also present to witness the ceremony.

Atty. Sheila O. De Guzman, the Regional Director of PSA-RSSO I, warmly welcomed the participants of the event. Atty. De Guzman said that through meticulous collection, analysis, and interpretation, the countless possibilities and informed choices that have shaped our present and guided our future have been unlocked through the CBMS. “We stand here, ready to embrace the wealth of data that lies before us, eager to uncover new patterns and trends, and to embark on new endeavors fueled by data driven insights,” Atty. De Guzman said.

Dr. Danites E. Teñido, Chief Statistical Specialist (CSS) of PSA – La Union, presented the highlights of the 2022 CBMS results for LGU Bacnotan. Her presentation included information on basic services such as access to electricity and internet, main sources of water for drinking and for general use, service level of toilet facility, households’ perception on safety when walking alone in the community, household food insecurity experience in the past 12 months, education, labor force and employment, education facilities, health facilities, and disaster preparedness.

In the acceptance message of Hon. Mayor Fontanilla, she expressed the excitement of LGU Bacnotan in having a centralized and good data. She thanked the enumerators that made possible the collection of 2022 CBMS data for Bacnotan despite the challenges brought by the pandemic.

Meanwhile, Municipal Planning and Development Coordinator (MPDC) Francia Gonzales shared some of the plans and programs of the LGU where they will use the CBMS data. Among these plans are the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP), Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP), Local Public Transport Draft Plan and Shelter Plan, Executive Legislative Agenda and Ecological Profile, Enhanced Local Climate Change Action Plan, Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plan, Contingency Plan, Risk Communication Plan, Standard Operation Procedure in the Management and Coordination of Evacuation Centers, Manual of Operations on Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, Climate and Disaster Risk Assessment Plan, Guard and Budget Plan, Tourism Development Plan, Management for Health Plan, Peace and Order and Public Safety Plan, Integrated Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Plan, Municipal Council for the Protection of Children Plan, Violence Against Women (VAWC) Action Plan, Comprehensive Local Juvenile Intervention Program, and Special Drug Education Plan. 

Moreover, MPDC Gonzales also mentioned the importance of CBMS data in developing and enhancing the sectoral plans for persons with disability and senior citizens, women, youth, indigenous people, and informal settlers. 

The CBMS implementation in Bacnotan is a strategic move to re-align the local government’s data planning, policy formulation, and program interventions, an initiative that contributes to the overarching national goal of fostering community progress.

SGD. DANITES E. TEÑIDO, PhD
Chief Statistical Specialist

/MAQ/PQSS