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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MINUTES OF THE REGIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION COMMITTEE (RSCC) XII MEETING HELD ON I. Introduction
The meeting started at about 9 o'clock in the morning. It was presided by NEDA-XII Regional Dir. Ma. Lourdes D. Lim, the Chairperson of the RSCC-XII. All RSCC members from the regional line agencies were present except for DBM. Also present were representatives from Cotabato Province and Cotabato City as well as private sector representatives from Notre Dame University Research Center and NDFCAI-WED.
The provisional agenda was approved without any revisions.
The highlights of the previous meeting was also approved as presented. Co-Chairperson Jaime S. Paller, NSO-XII Regional Director, updated the body regarding the status of the conduct of the 2005 Mid-Decade Census. According to Dir. Paller, pilot-testing of the questionnaire was already conducted in four provinces in the country and preliminary activities relevant to the conduct of the said census were already started.
Due to the fiscal crisis, however, Dir. Paller informed the Committee that the conduct of the 2005 Mid-Decade Census was cancelled. A directive from Ms. Carmelita N. Ericta, NSO Administrator, suspending activities relative to the conduct of the Mid-Decade Census and the Census of Philippine Business Establishments (CPBE) was forwarded to the Regional Offices of NSO. Ms. Herlita G. Caraan informed the body of the successful conduct of the First MCS last May 20-21, 2004 in MSU-IIT, Iligan City. A total of 20 technical papers were presented; ten for the government session and another 10 for the academe session. NSCB Secretary General, Dr. Romulo A. Virola was the keynote speaker.
The MCS was attended by 121 participants from all over Mindanao, 21 of whom came from Region XII. Region XII has the second biggest delegation. The trade figures of General Santos City was severely affected when Sinawal Bridge in General Santos City was declared unpassable due to repairs/construction prompting the shipment of imports/exports using the Davao port.
NSO-XII Regional Director Jaime S. Paller told the Committee that repairs of Sinawal Bridge has been partially completed allowing transport of export and import goods via General Santos City. So, this somehow resolved the problem. Ms. Caraan informed the body that LMB-CO had already provided the NSCB with official figures on land area for the region as well as the policy on data release. The Secretariat provided the NEDA-XII and DENR-XII a copy of the communication from LMB-CO for their reference and guidance.
The Chair however, instructed the Secretariat to write a letter to the DENR-XII requesting for the updated official data on land areas by physical disaggregates. The updated data are needed for the finalization/updating of the regional physical framework/development plans.
The NSCB-XII had already started preparing the CIF for Cotabato Province. The said publication is targeted to be completed in September 2004. A cost-sharing scheme with the local government concerned shall be explored for the printing of the said publication.
Ms. Caraan informed the Committee, that communications enjoining LGUs to include a statistical page on their websites were already prepared and disseminated to the LGus. A copy of the pro-forma template containing the proposed indicators as suggested/recommended by the RSCC was attached. The RITECC-XII had also issued a resolution supporting the inclusion of a statistical page in the LGU websites.
The proposal for the conduct of the said training was deferred due to the issuance of AO 103 which provides for the adoption of austerity measures in the government. However, the conduct of said training could still be pursued if interested LGUs would shoulder the training cost.
To shed some light on the inquiry raised re the declining figures on poverty threshold of Cotabato Province from 2000-2002, Ms. Caraan informed the body that the decrease was due to the reduction in the prices of ordinary rice in the said province. In the computation of the poverty threshold, the price of ordinary rice was used and its price during the period was recorded to have reduced.
Dir. Paller informed the Committee that a listing of urban-rural areas up to the barangay level are already available at the NSO-XII. The new listing based on the revised definition of urban-areas, however, is being reconciled with the old listing based on the old definition as there are areas, like Alamada, where the number of urban areas under the revised definition was lesser compared to the number based in the old definition. Mr. Edward Donald F. Eloja updated the Committee on the preparations for the forthcoming 15th National Statistics Month (NSM) celebration. He informed the body that the Opening Ceremonies for the 15th NSM celebration will be held in Cotabato City. The Opening Program will be conducted on September 30, 2004 at the RDC-XII Conference Room and will be hosted by the NEDA-XII. As the NSCB RD Head and the RSCC-XII Chairperson will also be attending the 9th National Convention on Statistics in Manila on October 3-4, 2004, the 15th NSM launching will be held earlier. Dir. Lim and Ms. Caraan will be presenting a paper entitled "An assessment of the Existing Poverty Measures and Monitoring Tools in Region XII" in the said convention.
For the Opening Program, Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin G. Sema will be invited as keynote speaker. In the technical session, the highlights of the following will be presented: Mr. Eloja explained that the aforementioned topics were suggested in consonance to the 15th NSM theme "Rising Beyond Global Challenges Through Quality Philippine Statistics". For dry-run purposes, Dir.Lim suggested that the RSCC-XII technical paper entitled "An Assessment of the Existing Poverty Measures and Monitoring Tools in Region XII" be initially presented during the NSM technical session to solicit further comments and suggestions. The inputs/reactions gathered during the initial presentation will be used to further enhance the paper. Co-Chair Paller also suggested that since DTI-XII is unable to present the SME-XII website during the meeting, he recommended that the salient features of the said website be presented on the forthcoming NSM opening program. Ms. Phlorita A. Ridao of NEDA-XII also suggested that since the presentations that were lined-up were highly technical, audience participation could be elicited through quizzes inserted every after presentation to lessen monotony and lethargy. Mr. Eloja also informed the body that the activities submitted by RLAs, LGUs, academe and the private sector were already consolidated and submitted by the Secretariat to the NSCB-CO for inclusion in the National Calendar of Activities.
He also showed to the RSCC-XII members the streamer format for this year's NSM celebration. He explained that the agency may have the option to use the Filipino translation of the theme or adopt the English theme. He said, copies of the streamer format were already disseminated to the concerned agencies and offices. Mr. Eloja updated the Committee of the list of technical papers from Mindanao, particularly those originating from Region XII, that were appproved for presentation in the 9th NCS. According to him, the technical paper of the RSCC-XII on poverty was considered as one of the technical papers to be presented in the Mindanao session. He also informed them of the number of participants from the region who confirmed their attendance to the 9th NCS as of said date. He said, registration fee for participants coming from the government is P3,000 and P4,000 for the private sector. For students, registration fee is P2,500 for those who would avail of the snacks and P800 for those without food provisions.
Registration fee of participants from the government and the private sector would cover the following:
According to Mr. Eloja, interested participants may send or fax the registration form to the nearest NSCB Regional Division or directly to the NSCB-CO. They may also accomplish the on-line registration form at the NSCB website. For details regarding the NCS, he advised the RSCC-XII members to log-on to the NSCB website for updates/information regarding the Convention. Ms. Caraan gave an overview of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which included background information about the MDG goals and targets and how the MDGs are to be measured based on a set of specified indicators. Her presentation largely dwelt on the availability of these indicators in Region XII based on the results of an assessment conducted by the Secretariat. The indicators presented were assessed based on availability of data at the national, regional, provincial/city, municipal and/or barangay levels, whenever, possible, the frequency of generation and sources of data.
The Chair lauded the Secretariat for such efforts and requested if the RD could maintain the set of data sets needed for the tracking of the attainment of the MDGs in the region. Upon request of the Secretariat, the Committee passed a resolution requesting the concerned data sources to regularly provide the NSCB-RD with the needed data for the tracking of MDG attainment in the region.
Ms. Caraan presented the result of an assessment conducted by the Secretariat regarding the establishment and maintenance of poverty alleviation databanks in Region XII. According to her, the study revealed that provincial and city governments in the region utilized the Community-Based Poverty Indicators Monitoring System (MBN-CBPIMS) in the collection of a core set of quality of life indicators through the conduct of a participatory community-based survey. The updating and sustainability of poverty monitoring tools such as the MBN-CBPIMS are hampered by the following concerns:
Based on the aforementioned findings, the Committee passed a resolution enjoining LGUs to strengthen their databases for poverty monitoring/assessment. She requested the Secretariat to write to the DILG-XII requesting them to strengthen their efforts in monitoring of LGU adoption/maintenance of various poverty monitoring tools/systems.
Ma. Eileen A. Berdeprado presented the highlights of the 2002-2003 GRDP estimates. The 2002-2003 estimates now reflect the new regional configuration. She made a detailed discussion of the 2002 and 2003 comparative performance of the major industry groups in the region. She cited some possible reasons regarding the over-all improved performance of the regional economy and mentioned critical incidents that boosted the performance of some industries in the regional economy. Mr. Crispin A. Soliven of DepEd XII briefly discussed the framework of the Basic Education Information System (BEIS) and the history behind the development of the said MIS. He showed samples of the BEIS data gathering instruments and the data collection and processing activities involved in the generation of the needed data for the BEIS. He then proceeded to explain the salient points of the system and the indicators generated through the BEIS Quick Count System (Module I), BEIS School Statistics System (Module 2), and BEIS Performance Indicators System (Module 3). He also showed samples of maps that could be produced using the data generated from the BEIS. He reported that data generated from the BEIS can be disaggregated from national level down to school level by public and private schools depending on the data needed. According to him, data from BEIS for public schools are available for SY 2002-2003 to SY 2003-2004 and figures for private schools are available for SY 2002-2003. He urged data users to visit the DepEd Regional Office for their data needs.
The Chair commended the DepEd for such effort and remarked that the BEIS would be very useful for the provision of data requirements for tracking MDG progress. Dir. Paller cited the salient points of RA 9255, an "Act Allowing Illegitimate Children to Use the Surname of their Father, Amending for the Purpose, Article 176 of EO No. 209, Otherwise Known as the "Family Code of the Philippines". He explained the scope of RA No. 9255, the requirements for an illegitimate child to be able to use the surname of the father, who and where to file, how to secure a copy of the annotated document from the OCRG including cost of processing fee.
For further inquiries regarding RA 9255, he urged interested persons to write, call or visit the nearest NSO office or to log on at census.gov.ph or e-census.com.ph.
With no other matters to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at about 4:00 in the afternoon of the same day. |