Balaoan paves way to tablet-based household survey through CBMS

The Local Government Unit (LGU) of Balaoan, La Union, in partnership with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), adopts the latest module on data collection using the Community-Based Monitoring System Accelerated Poverty Profiling (CBMS‐APP) which entails a more organized and systematic process combined with the use of latest information and communication technology gadgets, in particular Android tablets. In the past, CBMS utilized the traditional pen and paper in household surveys.

LGU Balaoan requested a PhP 1Million funding support from the DILG under the Bottom-up Budget (BuB) and added PhP 350,000 as municipal counterpart.

On February 6-10, 2017, forty-five (45) enumerators and field editors from the barangays of Balaoan attended the five-day Module 1 Training: Data Collection using CBMS SCAN and CBMS PORTAL. The training covered a general orientation on the background and rationale of CBMS thru lectures, hands-on exercise and on-site field practice on how to conduct the household survey using Android tablets and how to administer the survey forms in the barangays. The survey targets to cover all the households of the municipality within a thirty-two (32) day period.

The Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) is a program initiative of the De La Salle University Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (DLSU-AKIEBS) on poverty alleviation and improving local governance that utilizes a customized software developed by the CBMS Network. CBMS is a household survey that generates baseline data for poverty diagnosis, Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) target monitoring, ecological profiling as well as for effective and efficient planning, budgeting, programming and impact monitoring.

The CBMS APP was developed to respond to the growing demand from various users of the CBMS, particularly LGUs, to fast track the generation of data for use in the preparation of development plans and budgets, and use of data for various development program initiatives.Technical support on the use of the CBMS APP modules is provided to LGUs by a pool of CBMS-accredited trainers from the DILG.Balaoan is the fourth municipality in La Union to adopt the CBMS APP.

The CBMS is in line with the current municipal administration’s Executive Legislative Agenda 2017-2019 geared towards a responsive governance through effective legislation, local development planning, sound utilization of resources, increased transparency and accountability particularly in the identification and implementation of programs to its constituents.