About 2023 Community-Based Monitoring System Operations

The 2023 Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) in Pantabangan commenced on June 5, 2023, and concluded on October 31, 2023. This initiative was a partnership between the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Pantabangan. A total of 29 field personnel were hired for the project, which included 1 Census Area Supervisor, 4 Team Supervisors, and 24 Enumerators.

The data processing phase began on January 2, 2024, and ended on March 31, 2024. Four data processors and two map data processors handled the data processing. The data collection phase was funded by the LGU Pantabangan, while the data processing was funded by the PSA.

For the entire implementation of the 2023 CBMS in Pantabangan, a total of 5,577 households, with a combined population of 22,145, were covered across the 14 barangays. These barangays are Cadaclan, Cambitala, Conversion, Ganduz, Fatima, Liberty, Malbang, Marikit, Napon-Napon, Poblacion East, Poblacion West, Sampaloc, San Juan, and Villarica. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, six enumeration areas were not included in the coverage - Cadaclan EA 001000, Malbang EA 002000, Malbang EA 004000, Poblacion East EA 004000, Poblacion East EA 007000, and Poblacion West EA 002000.

Basic Services

CBMS collects household information on basic services including access to electricity, internet, source of water, and service level of toilet facility as shown in Figures 1 to 5 below.

Access to Electricity

Figure 1 shows the percentage distribution of access to electricity among the 5,577 households in the covered barangays. Of these, 96.13% (5,361 households) had access to electricity, while the remaining 3.87% (216 households) did not. Among the 216 households without electricity, it was identified that 30 households are from Barangay Cadaclan.

Internet Access

In terms of internet access, less than half of the covered households (42.55%) have their own internet connections at home. This means that 57.45% of households, or 3,207 households, still lack internet access. Notably, Barangay San Juan has over 400 households without internet access (Figure 2).
 

Main Sources of Water

The CBMS also collects data on the main sources of water for general use and drinking purposes for each household.

In terms of water source for general use, notably, other sources of water, including public taps, developed spring, and tanker truck / peddler / neighbor, account for the highest percentage at 36.81%. A total of 29.32% of the covered households use a Community Water System piped into the dwelling, 25.00% use a protected well, tube well, or borehole, and the remaining 8.80% rely on a Community Water System piped into the yard/plot (Figure 3).
 

For drinking water, 33.60% of the covered households rely on water refilling stations as their main source. This is followed by other sources, including piped to a neighbor, public tap/standpipe, protected well, and protected spring, which together account for 24.24%. Additionally, 20.96% use a tubed well/borehole, 14.45% use a piped connection into the dwelling, and 6.74% use a piped connection into the yard/plot (Figure 4).

Service Level of Toilet Facilities

The service level of toilet facilities for the covered households was also collected. Notably, the majority of households (90.14%, or 5,027 households) have hygienic and basic sanitation facilities that are not shared with other households.

Meanwhile, 5.04% (281 households) have limited or hygienic facilities shared with other households, while 2.94% (164 households) have unimproved facilities, such as pit latrines without covers, hanging latrines, or bucket latrines. A small percentage, 1.88% (105 households), practice open defecation or dispose of waste in open spaces, bodies of water, or fields. This practice was observed in several barangays, including Cadaclan (18 households), Conversion (24 households), Ganduz (31 households), and Liberty (15 households). The remaining 17 households practicing open defecation can be found in Cambitala, Marikit, Napon-Napon, Poblacion East, and San Juan (Figure 5).
 

Safety

CBMS also covered the residents’ perception on safety and security within Pantabangan. Among the 14 covered barangays, 93.46% of the households perceived that they felt safe walking alone within their own communities at night, 6.46% said that they felt somewhat safe, and less than one percent indicated that their neighborhoods were somewhat unsafe and unsafe. No residents said that they are afraid to be alone (Figure 6). 

Food insecurity

The CBMS includes questions that measure the household’s level of food insecurity to assist LGUs in developing programs and plans to address this issue. Residents were asked if they had experienced food insecurity to varying levels within the past 12 months during the reference period, specifically due to a lack of money or other resources.
    
A total of 21.50% (1,199 households) expressed concern about not having enough food to eat. The highest number was recorded in Barangay Conversion, where 239 households were worried about food shortages. Additionally, 1.90% of households reported having to skip a meal at least once in the past 12 months, 1.13% felt hungry but did not eat, and 0.38% went without food for a whole day at least once during the same period (Table 3).

Education

In addition to household information, the CBMS also collected data on individuals in the education sector. This includes school attendance, reasons for not enrolling, and highest grade completed, among others.

School Attendance (aged 3 to 4)

Figure 7 below shows the trend in school attendance rates by age (3 to 24 years old) and sex. From the graph, it is evident that children and youth begin attending school at ages 3 to 5, with attendance continuing until the age of 16. At age 16, however, there is a noticeable decline in school attendance. This drop may suggest that some individuals stop attending school at this age, with a gradual decrease in attendance observed until the age of 24.

Top Reasons for Not Enrolling (Aged 3 to 24)

To better understand why some individuals have stopped attending school, the CBMS also gathered data on the possible reasons. Figure 8 below shows the top reasons for not enrolling among individuals ages 3 to 24, by sex. For males, the most common reason is employment (19.31%), compared to only 10.90% for females. For females, however, the top reason is family matters, with 18.64%, which is nearly tied with males at 17.52%.

Other significant reasons for males in this age group include lack of personal interest (15.63%), high cost of education or financial concerns (12.59%), and looking for work (11.33%). Meanwhile, the top reasons for females include having completed schooling or post-secondary education (17.19%), marriage (16.46%), and pregnancy (14.41%). 

Highest Grade Completed of not in School (Aged 16 to 24)

In addition to the reasons for not attending school, the CBMS also collected data on the highest grades or years completed by individuals who are not currently in school. Notably, most of the covered households reported that the highest level completed by individuals aged 16 to 24 who are not in school is Junior High School. This is true for both males (31.1%) and females (27.1%). Among females, 18.2% have graduated from college, while only 8.5% of males are college graduates (Figure 9). 

Labor Force and Employment

To provide LGUs with insights into the engagement of residents in economic activities, various labor and economic indicators, including labor force participation and employment status, were collected.

Labor Force Participation Rate

Out of 16,156 individuals aged 15 and over, 39.16% (6,327 individuals) are part of the labor force. Of these 6,327 individuals, 54.27% are males, while 23.98% are females in the labor force (Figure 10).

Employment Rate

In terms of employment, 83.4% (5,275 individuals) were employed, meaning they had a job or business during the reference period. Of these, 80.3% (2,551) were females, and 84.7% (3,724) were males (Figure 11).

Housing Characteristics

The information on the housing characteristics of the interviewed households were also collected and identified. This information helps determine which households are most vulnerable to the impacts of typhoons and earthquakes. Figure 12 shows the spatial distribution of the roofing, exterior wall, and flooring materials used in each barangay. As observed, most of the barangays are using strong materials, but there are still some which uses light materials. 
    
Among the 5,577 households interviewed, 87.50% or equivalent to 4,880 households uses galvanized iron or aluminum as the main construction material of their roofs. In the map below, the barangays which mostly uses light roofing materials can be found in Ganduz and Marikit.

As for the type of exterior walls, 61 % or  3,402 households use concrete / brick / stone as the main construction material of the walls. As shown in the spatial map, there are quite a mixture of strong and light exterior wall materials across the barangays in Pantabangan.

Lastly, 68.82 % or 3,838 households are using concrete as the main construction material of the floor. Notably, most of the households in the barangays of Conversion, Marikit, Cadaclan, and Ganduz use light flooring materials. That is, earth / sand / mud, makeshift/salvaged and other materials. 

Disaster Preparedness

To identify the disaster preparedness and awareness of the residents in terms of emergency hotlines, CBMS also asked relevant questions on knowledge/ behaviors of households with regards to preparation for disasters.

Only 2 in every 5 household respondents said that they know any contact number or hotlines in case of emergency. In addition, only 1 in 5 households said that they discuss with their household members how to prepare for disasters (Figure 13).

TECHNICAL NOTES

GIRLIE G. DE GUZMAN
OIC-Supervising Statistical Specialist
PSO- Nueva Ecija

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