COTABATO CITY — The Bangsamoro Planning and Development Authority in partnership with Japan International Cooperation Ahency (JICA) facilitated last March 31 to April 1, 2022 an in-house workshop for the Map Team and technical working group (TWG) of the Bangsamoro Ecological Profile (BEP) to prepare the said technical staff from the BPDA who shall spearhead the official conduct of the ecological profiling.
The two-day workshop aims to obtain a better understanding about the BEP and its importance to development planning; map out existing sectoral data submitted by the ministries; and identify preliminary set of information that are to be included in the Bangsamoro Development Plan (BDP).
In his message, Engr. Kadil A. Sulaik, Director of Research and Development and Special Projects Bureau (RDSPB), said that BPDA, being the executive arm of the Bangsamoro Government and the lead agency in coordinating the formulation of development policies and plans, the said office continuously strive in enhancing the capacity and skills of its employees to be able to deliver quality services to their stakeholders.
โThere is really a necessity for regional data that will provide detailed description, facts, figures, and statistics about BARMM’s social, economic, physical, cultural, and environmental circumstances,โ he stressed.
As the BPDA plays a vital role in providing reliable regional data on the existing services of BARMM to its constituents, Marifah Agar, Chief of Research and Development Division (RDD) underscored that the BPDA pushed through for the creation of BEP.
โThe BEP will be the first regional ecological profile that could serve as an important reference to update the 1st BARMM Development Plan (BDP 2020-2022) and formulate policies and programs for the BARMM,โ she emphasized.
Accordingly, BEP will serve as an important information base for policy formulation, planning, and decision making. It will help the government to determine current level of services to its constituents, resources available, and environmental changes that will affect policy and to which policy is expected to bring changes.
โThe BARMM Ecological Profile shall contain population and social services, local economy, infrastructure and physical base, environmental and natural resources, and institutional development,โ Agar added.
Ever Abasolo, resource person and consultant, shared that ecological profile is typically accompanied with situational analysis.
Furthermore, Abasolo introduced the โdummy tablesโ as part of the preparation for the creation of BEP. The dummy tables will be used as a tool in ecological profiling.
Abasolo grouped the participants by sector during the workshop. He also instructed that each group should nominate a set of indicators for the sector and formulate dummy tables for each indicator.
During the presentation of workshop output, it has been agreed that โpeace and securityโ should be separated from population and social services to give emphasis on the peace and security concerns in the region.
Meanwhile, the BPDA will work with different BARMM ministries, offices and agencies, provincial local government units, national government agencies, academic institutions, and development partners of the Bangsamoro Government in the creation of the first Bangsamoro Ecological Profile.ย (BPDA-BARMM)