COTABATO CITY (PIA) -- The Bangsamoro government, through its Ministry of Social Services and Development (MSSD) and the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA-BARMM), has recently signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the implementation of a P72.5 million Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) in the region.

Funded by MSSD, the CBMS is a technology-based data gathering system that will be implemented by the PSA-BARMM to ensure accuracy in planning social service programs and also in identifying beneficiaries.

“The P72.5 million could be a good investment for PSA to have access to actual household data. Similarly, local government units will need this data as, in the next five years, social welfare and services will be devolved to the LGUs,” MSSD Minister Raissa Jajurie said as she led the MOA signing and turnover of checks with PSA-BARMM Regional Director Akan Tula, among others.

According to Jajurie, with the help of CBMS, household data for social service beneficiaries becomes accurate and reliable enough to be used as a reference to craft appropriate interventions, such as policies and programs.

She said that the PSA’s collection of household data, translated into figures and numbers, will also provide MSSD with detailed information to identify priority beneficiaries and determine areas where government services are most needed.

“Our region is a very challenging region considering that we have island provinces and so many geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas. Having data collected and placed in one repository and making this available first to the local government units and then also to the regional and national governments is really a necessary step,” she noted.

Moreover, Jamal Macapodi Ali, chief of the planning and development division of MSSD, acknowledged that with the help of CBMS, the ministry will have a proper recording of the number of poor household beneficiaries and the profile of the indigents, among others.

“While meron tayong census of population kung saan binibilang ‘yung bilang ng mga mahihirap na tao sa region, ang kaibahan lang po ngayon ay mas holistic po ito,” he explained.

[While we have a population census where the number of poor people in the region is counted, the only difference now is that it is more holistic.]

He described CBMS as a vital tool for LGUs to quickly collect data, implement projects for poverty alleviation, or conduct immediate response activities in times of disaster.

“Ang CBMS, pwede ka po niyang bigyan ng impormasyon kung sino-sino ang mga mahihirap, ano anong mga munisipyo, barangay, o pamilya ang nakatira sa bahay na kahoy, gawa sa semento, and other classifications,” Ali added.

[The CBMS can give you information on who the poor are, what municipalities, barangays, or families live in houses made of wood or cement, and other classifications.]

Meanwhile, in the Soccsksargen region, PSA is almost done with the convening of the CBMS Coordinating Board tasked with supervising the implementation of the CBMS operations in the city and municipality and in preparation for its “synchronized implementation” in June this year.

PSA, along with the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Department of Information and Communications Technology, is mandated to oversee the overall implementation of CBMS nationwide pursuant to Republic Act No. 11315, otherwise known as “The Community-Based Monitoring System Act” of 2019, with LGUs as its partners.

CBMS is an organized technology-based system for collecting, processing, and validating data that can be used for local planning, program implementation, and impact monitoring while also empowering communities to participate in the process. (LTB – PIA Cotabato City)