OPENING REMARKS

Claire Dennis S. Mapa, Ph.D.
Undersecretary
National Statistician and Civil Registrar General, PSA

Interagency Consultative Forum for the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS)

Sequoia Hotel, Quezon City
24 October 2019 | 9:00 AM

Dearest colleagues in government,
Development partners,
Ladies and gentlemen,
A pleasant morning to everyone!

It is a great pleasure to welcome you to the Interagency Meeting to discuss the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) Act. I would like to thank all of you who joined us here despite your hectic schedules.

The CBMS Act is an important piece of legislation, signed into law by the President this year, that aims to generate updated and disaggregated data needed to strengthen the poverty reduction policies and programs of the government.

As stated in the CBMS Act, the data collected will be used in conducting comprehensive poverty analysis and needs prioritization, designing policy interventions and monitor progress over time.

Our country’s economic growth has been robust in the last decade and is expected to continuously grow at pace not seen before – high economic growth over longer period of time is a necessary condition for progress. But as the Nobel Prize Winner Angus Deaton would say, “the tale of progress is also the tale of inequality.” Inequality is often a consequence of progress. Not everyone benefit from this prosperity at the same time. Not all become winners at the same time. Every day, we see Filipinos who are struggling, fighting a different battle – a daily battle to survive. We can help them win their battle in our own little way, such as giving to charity and helping students by providing scholarship. But we can help a large number, in millions, through this initiative – the Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS).

I am happy to note that the task to spearhead the implementation of the CBMS Act was given to the PSA. It a symbol of TRUST given by our policy makers to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) to again lead a very important undertaking. And the PSA is committed to make sure of a fully successful implementation of the CBMS for the Filipino People.

With that, once again, I welcome you all to this Workshop and my hope is that we will have a very productive day to deliver an excellent IRR of the CBMS Act.

Thank you very much and good day to all of us!