25 January 2024 – QUEZON CITY.  In an important initiative, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) kicked off its First Brown Bag Discussion in 2024, creating a dynamic platform for the exchange of information and expertise among the agency's officials, personnel, and stakeholders. The initiative aims to cultivate a culture of continuous learning in the PSA, stimulate insightful discussions, and encourage interactions fostering collaboration and a sense of unity within the PSA, and among agency staff and stakeholders. For the first session, the discussion centered on the research titled "Analyzing the Disparities of Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Inflation Rates by Income Quintile” by authors: Mr. Glen G. Polo, Officer-in-Charge of the PSA's Price Statistics Division, and Mr. Merdelito T. Dolorito, a Senior Statistical Specialist from the same division. 

Mr. Polo and Mr. Dolorito’s study used the expenditure data from the 2018 Family Income and Expenditure Survey as weights and the 2018-based CPI market basket as the list of monitored commodities, which are based on the 2020 Philippine Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose. The results showed that the inflation rates of the bottom 20 percent income group or the first quintile and the highest 20 percent income group or the fifth quintile diverge when abrupt price changes are observed, especially in commodity groups with high disparity in relative weights as in the case of food and non-alcoholic beverages and furnishings, household equipment, and routine household maintenance.

Aside from presenting their research, Mr. Polo demonstrated their ongoing project that allows people to compute personal inflation rates. The calculator needs user information such as location, desired month for computation of the inflation rate, and expenditure by commodity group.

Stakeholders of the PSA were present at the session: Josefina V. Almeda, PhD, President of the Philippine Statistical Association, Inc., and Executive Director III of the Philippine Statistical Research and Training Institute; Majah-Leah V. Ravago, PhD, Associate Professor of the Ateneo de Manila University - Department of Economics; and Karl Robert L. Jandoc, PhD, Associate Professor of the University of the Philippines School of Economics. Being a hybrid event at the PSA Media Room - Eton Centris 5 and through online video conferencing, over 150 participants, consisting of PSA officials and personnel from the Central and Field offices, joined the activity.

The First Brown Bag Discussion in 2024, where knowledge, collaboration, and innovation take center stage, marked a significant step toward continuous learning and meaningful interactions within the PSA and its external stakeholders.

Visit the PSA website www.psa.gov.ph for more information and updates about the Brown Bag Discussion and other activities of the PSA.

-    Statistical Methodology Unit, Office of the National Statistician