The city government of Baguio has allotted P45 million for its effort to gather details on the characteristics of barangays and households, which local planners will use in crafting programs that are more responsive to the residents’ needs.
The survey, called the community-based monitoring system (CBMS), was rolled out in barangays Irisan, Asin, SLU-SVP, and Bakakeng Norte.
Cyr Bagayao of the City Planning and Development Office said a part of the P45M was used to procure tablets that will aid the more than 300 enumerators hired to gather data from barangays and households in the city.
Aside from tablet procurement, portions of the amount were used in the training of the enumerators. It will also cover the salaries of the enumerators and in the gathering and tabulation or processing of data.
Baguio is one of the nine local government units in the country that serve as pilot areas of for the CBMS, with the technical assistance of the Philippine Statistics Authority.
Bagayao said among others, the CBMS greatly helps in the preparation of Disaster Risk Reduction and Management plans because it can provide information on the vulnerabilities of households.
The CBMS data is also used as basis for the establishment of infrastructures and improved community access to basic services, by helping local government units prioritize programs needed by each sector in their areas of jurisdiction.
Unlike the census of population and other surveys conducted by the PSA, the CBMS produces a disaggregated data or information that is more detailed, such as the level education of each member of a household, number of members with disability or with special needs, or the economic activities of household members.
The CBMS also identifies how the household manages its wastes and the government programs members have availed of, among other things.
PSA-Baguio-Benguet Director Imelda Buyuccan asked barangay officials and residents of Baguio to cooperate with the teams that will be deployed to the barangays by providing truthful information and for the responders to be patient with the enumerators.
Because the CBMS is aimed at extracting detailed information, she said the interview may take an hour or more for one household alone.
“Mahaba (ang oras) for the data gathering because the enumerators will ask several questions from the forms contained in the tablets.
PSA-Cordillera Director Villafe Alibuyog said in the gathering of data, the enumerators will have to look for the “responsible respondent” in a household.
“A responsible respondent is someone who can answer each of the questions asked or the one who can give the information needed. The enumerators were trained in determining the responsible respondents,” she said.
She added if the responsible respondent is not around, the enumerators will have to go back to that household. – Jane B. Cadalig
