COTABATO CITY — The Regional Statistics Committee (RSCom), a special committee under the Bangsamoro Economic and Development Council (BEDC) successfully conducted on Wednesday, May 05 its second regular meeting for the calendar year 2021 held at Bangsamoro Planning and Development Authority (BPDA) Conference Hall, Bangsamoro Government Center, this city.
Engr. Mohajirin T. Ali, Bangsamoro Director General and Committee Chair was elated for the presence of the two (2) new committee members, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) – Cotabato Branch and the Ministry of Finance and Budget and Management (MFBM-BARMM). Other committee members have also joined the said meeting both physically and virtually via zoom video teleconference.
The meeting highlighted with Engr. Ali’s report on the success of the recently launched Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’s (BARMM) Gross Regional Domestic Product for 2020 which charted last year’s performance of the BARMM.
“We recently launched the GRDP 2020 of the BARMM a few days ago. In fact, during our cabinet meeting yesterday, they requested me to present the GRDP 2020 and I re-echoed the presentation to the Chief Minister and the members of the cabinet. They were very happy to see the result and performance of the BARMM for 2020,” Ali said in his message.
Furthermore, Ali underscored the cabinet’s concern on information dissemination of the BARMM’s performance to the public.
“One of the very vital comments was with regards to the messaging on how we will be able to relay to the public the said performance of the BARMM. I informed the member of the cabinet that it is done annually and hopefully we could further improve the collection of data with our ministries, offices, and agencies within the BARMM,” he added.
Meanwhile, PSA BARMM’s Chief Statistical Specialist Mahmur H. Sarail presented the highlights of GRDP 2020 and challenges in 2020 data collection. Also, the PSA has handed over a certificate of appreciation and tokens to the ministries, offices, and agencies to recognize their support in the data collection.
“As mentioned in the report of 2020 GRDP that was presented by our OIC-Regional Director General Engr. Nasser S. Usman, occasionally, the GRDP was presented on April 29, 2021, that is a simultaneous news conference within 17 regions,” he said.
In addition, Sarail discussed the updates on the implementation of Republic Act No. 11315, known as the Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) Act of 2019, Core Regional Indicators (CoRe-Is), and Regional Social and Economic Trends (RSET).
Mark Marcos, UNDP Program Analyst, presented an update on the Development through Local Indicators and Vulnerability Exposure Database (DevLIVE+). Further, he provided the RSCom members a brief walk-thru on “Harnessing Local Data for Development and Resilience Planning, Budgeting and Governance.”
“This will be one of the components under the Localizing e-Government for Accelerated Provision of Services with Ministry of Interior and Local Government (MILG) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),” Marcos emphasized.
Moreover, other matters discussed were the updates on the Bangsamoro Regional Statistical Development Program 2021-2023 and the schedule and venue of the next committee meeting.
Also present during the meeting were representatives from the Ministries of Health (MOH), Labor and Employment (MOLE), Transportation and Communications (MOTC), Interior and Local Government (MILG), Public Works (MPW), Agriculture, Fisheries and Agrarian Reform (MAFAR), Human Settlements and Development (MHSD), Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE), Science and Technology (MOST), Trade, Investments and Tourism (MTIT), Environment, Natural Resources and Energy (MENRE), Social Services and Development (MSSD), Bangsamoro Information Office (BIO), Bangsamoro Commission for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage (BCPCH), Technical Management Services-Office of the Chief Minister (TMS-OCM), BARMM Rapid Emergency Action on Disaster Incidence (BARMM-READi), and Bangsamoro Treasury Office (BTO). (BPDA-BARMM)