The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) - La Union Provincial Statistical Office conducted the Provincial Media Forum and gave recognition to media partners for their continuous support in the dissemination of precise information to the general public on 18 December 2023 at the J&V Hotel and Resort, City of San Fernando, La Union.

The activity primarily aims to inform the media and stakeholders on the different products and services of the PSA and to recognize the media’s significant role and contributions in increasing public awareness on the importance of statistics, civil registration and the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys). 

The event kicked off with the opening message of Statistical Specialist (SS) II Susan Cora F. Hufana, highlighting the importance of media in bridging the gap between government agencies and the public. It was followed by the message delivered by Chief Statistical Specialist (CSS) Juanito Y. Yabes of the Statistical Operations and Coordination Division (SOCD) on behalf of Regional Director, Atty. Sheila O. De Guzman of PSA-Regional Statistical Service Office I (RSSO I). CSS Yabes thanked the media for their vital role in ensuring that the public is well-informed about the PSA’s activities and initiatives. He also highlighted the significant role of line agencies and stakeholders' support in the success of PSA’s programs and activities.

The first resource speaker was Supervising Statistical Specialist (SSS) Malvin A. Quinto who presented on the overview of Republic Act (RA) No. 11315, or the Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) Act, and the implementation of the 2024 CBMS. The CBMS is an organized technology-based system of collecting, processing, and validating disaggregated data that may be used in planning, program implementation, and impact monitoring at the local level. It aims to empower communities to participate in the process and involves a census of households in the community to collect individual and household-level information through face-to-face interviews.

CSS Danites E. Teñido, PhD disseminated the November 2023 summary inflation report of La Union. CSS Teñido reported that La Union’s headline inflation eased further to 3.7 percent in November 2023 from 4.6 percent in October 2023. She also mentioned that the top three main drivers to the downtrend of the headline inflation in November 2023 from the previous month were housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels with 1.5 percent inflation from 5.1 percent; food and non-alcoholic beverages with 8.0 percent inflation from 8.4 percent; and transport with -0.6 percent inflation from 0.2 percent.

Lastly, Assistant Statistician (AS) Mariela F. Casiño presented on the Palay and Corn Situation in La Union in the 3rd quarter of 2023. In her presentation, La Union’s palay production decreased by 7.42 percent in the 3rd quarter of 2023 to 14,143.30 metric tons compared with the production in the same period of 2022 at 15,276.10 metric tons. Similarly, the area harvested for palay in the province went down by 6.06 percent from 3,334.00 hectares in the 3rd quarter of 2022 to 3,131.84 hectares in the 3rd quarter of 2023. AS Casiño also reported that the volume of corn production in La Union in the 3rd quarter of 2023 was posted at 723.54 metric tons, a decrease of 1.29 percent from the 733.00 metric tons production in the 3rd quarter of 2022.

An open forum followed after the resource speakers’ presentations to engage the media and stakeholders with queries and for them to share their insights on the topics discussed.

The Provincial Annual Media Forum has also served as a platform to give awards of appreciation to PSA-La Union's media partners in recognition to their consistent support in disseminating the PSA’s various activities to the public. Awardees during the event were DZAG Radyo Pilipinas Agoo, North Luzon Headline, and The Amianan Tribune for media institution/organization and Dr. Maricel M. Fronda from North Luzon Headline, Information Center Manager Chester Carlo M. Trinidad of the Philippine Information Agency (PIA)-La Union, and Ms. Antoniet L. Lingsit of DZAG Radyo Pilipinas Agoo for individual media partners.

SGD. DANITES E. TEÑIDO, PhD
Chief Statistical Specialist

/MBL

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