25 March 2025 – CALAPAN CITY, ORIENTAL MINDORO. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) recently conducted the 2024 Census of Population and Community Based Monitoring System (2024 POPCEN-CBMS). One of the key activities under the 2024 POPCEN-CBMS is the Geotagging of Service Facilities and Government Projects (SFGP).

Geotagging plays a crucial role in CBMS operations, allowing the capture and collection of relevant and timely information about households/housing units, service facilities, and government projects collected at the local level.

The PSA also compiles Construction Statistics from Approved Building Permits which are derived from administrative records. These statistics are based on approved building permits issued by Local Building Officials (LBOs) across local government units nationwide. However, since these statistics rely solely on permit applications, the accuracy of the published construction data depends on the completeness of applications submitted to the LBOs. Consequently, unregistered building constructions are not included in the tabulated data.

To address this limitation, the Listing of Building Constructions (LoBC) will be conducted as a supplementary activity to the 2024 POPCEN-CBMS Geotagging of SFGP. This operation will gather data on the number, type, and value of constructions, as well as the period of construction activity and building permit information, which shall be collected in this operation.

A four-day training was conducted last 24-27 February 2025, at the Provincial Statistical Office (PSO) Training Room to equip the field personnel with proper geotagging guidelines and procedures, objectives, concepts, and definitions. The training also covered standard protocols to ensure the smooth implementation of field operations. At the provincial level training, four Map Data Processors and two Map Data Reviewers were also trained, as they will be responsible for processing geotagged service facilities and government projects.

The geotagging activities are being carried out by 14 Map Data Collectors and four Team Supervisors in the 15 city/municipalities of the province. The operation began on 05 March 2025 and ends by 15 April 2025.

The PSA is committed to delivering relevant and reliable statistics. Hence, the agency encourages the public, especially the sample households, to participate in the various censuses and surveys conducted by the PSA. The agency also assures that all collected personal information is processed in accordance with the law and other issuances.

(SGD) CHARLYN ROMERO-CANTOS, PhD
(Chief Administrative Officer)
Officer-in-Charge
Oriental Mindoro Provincial Statistical Office

HTD