By ALLAN MEDIANTE
Executive Editor

TAGOLOAN, Misamis Oriental––The Steag State Power Inc. (SPI), a world class energy company and leader in advanced coal-power generation technology which operates the 210 MW Mindanao Power Plant here, and the DEG, one of Europe’s largest development finance institutions which promotes private business structures to contribute to sustainable economic growth and improved living conditions, with a host of project partners, launched a P16.9-million project to help local government units to monitor poverty effectively and responsibly.

The project seeks to update the database and information system of the Planning Offices of Misamis Oriental and Cagayan de Oro City. Six towns in Misamis Oriental––Laguindingan, El Salvador, Opol, Tagoloan, Jasaan and Medina––will be piloted for CBMS implementation, and Cagayan de Oro City for the GIS upgrading.

The beneficiaries were selected due to their strategic importance to the industrialization and eco-tourism potential of the region, and considering the limited collaboration of its private sectors on poverty reduction initiatives.

Dubbed as “Project EMPOWERING (Enhanced Monitoring System on Poverty Watch for a more Effective and Responsive Approach in Governance), the Project aims to enable local government units to acquire and possess technical skills and know-how in utilizing development tools such as the Community Based Monitoring System or CBMS. The project hopes to contribute immensely to Northern Mindanao’s economic growth.

It also hopes to improve the capacity of an LGU in processing relevant data from a useful information system that can efficiently gauge poverty status. An effective information system such as the CBMS, is hoped to enable the LGU in coming out with appropriate actions to address the underlying causes of poverty, and responsively assess the impact of their policies, programs, projects and activities on anti-poverty.

Steag says the project will focus on updating the database and information system of the Planning Offices of the local government units.
Implementation of the process of the project would include: 1. Assessment and validation of the data available in the target municipalities -a. Assessment of CBMS Implementation, b. Data Collection, c. Determination of the GIS requirements;
2. Converting of the data into tabular forms using the CBMS software -a. Data encoding and digitizing, b. Data processing and validation of CBMS results, c. Development and Integration of GIS;

3. Passing of the project to the target municipalities to create sustainability- a. technical assistance, and, b. Preparation of case studies.

Community Based Monitoring System or CBMS, is a tool to diagnose the extent and causes of poverty in the area. It was introduced to the local government units to help them in formulating policies and programs, to aid in identifying target beneficiaries and to facilitate assessment of the impact of those policies and programs.

CBMS incorporates the design and methodology for data collection and processing, validation and utilization. Although it is being endorsed through several memorandums of the government, only few LGUs have adopted it because it requires voluminous work that needed in data collection. The few that adopted CBMS were also incapable of converting the data into

information, especially with spatial characteristics, that can be used to fight against poverty.

In Misamis Oriental, particularly, 14 municipalities have started to adopt and implement the CBMS but have not fully utilize the system due to lack of capacity to validate and process the data into a development planning tool with geographic information system (GIS).

The project would be carried out for 18 months ( from September 2011 to March 2013) funded by STEAG State Power Inc. & DEG as donor agencies.

Technical implementation and evaluation will be assisted by Program Partners which include the Department of the Interior and Local Government; CBMS Network Coordinating Team; ASSIST Asia, and Xavier University.