The Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) as a local planning tool: Results from the PIDS-DILG baseline study on policy and governance gaps for the Local Government Support Fund Assistance to Municipalities (LGSF-AM) program

The Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) is a data collection system designed to methodically process and integrate local government data for monitoring both micro impacts of macroeconomic shocks and multidimensional poverty (Partnership for Economic Policy 2018). It aims to address existing data gaps in diagnosing the extent of poverty at the local level, to aid determination of the causes of poverty, formulation of appropriate policies and program, identification of eligible beneficiaries and assessing impact of policies and programs. It also supports the decentralization process by capacitating LGUs to collect, analyze and use data in local planning and program implementation. The main objective of this study is to examine if and how CBMS is used in the drafting the local Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP). By understanding the current planning process, areas for improvement could be identified to improve the quality of local development planning and lead to more efficient use of scarce public resources. How has the CBMS been used and implemented in recent local government development planning? What are possible areas of improvement? To answer these questions, a nationwide survey was conducted for 1,373 municipalities.