In preparation for the 34th National Statistics Month, Biliran Province State University (BiPSU), in collaboration with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Biliran, facilitated a Data Appreciation on Statistics Symposium to promote awareness about the importance of data and statistics to the general public.

The said activity kicked off last September 14 where students from the School of Teacher Education (STEd), School of Criminal Justice Education (SCJS), School of Arts and Sciences (SAS), and BiPSU Biliran Campus (BilCam) were the participants. Meanwhile, the schedule for the School of Management and Entrepreneurship (SME) was on September 18, and on September 19, the School of Engineering (SOE) and School of Nursing and Health Sciences (SNHS) followed. The School of Technology and Computer Studies (STCS) came last on September 20.

Mr. Virgilio L. Cinco Jr., Registration Officer I, discussed the reason behind this year’s theme, ‘Accelerating Progress: Promoting Data and Statistics for Healthy Philippines,’ which is to see the importance of data transparency and accuracy when making plans and policies.

“Gusto po nating ipaalala sa lahat na dapat po, ‘yung pagpla-plano ng gobyerno, ng iskwelahan, ng mga stakeholders natin, it should be based on statistics. It should be an evidence-based decision-making,” he said.

“Dapat naka-base po tayo sa kung ano ang totoo,” he added.

According to Mr. Cinco, the 34th National Statistics Month opening is scheduled for September 29. Concurrently, the PSA Provincial Quiz Bee will occur on the same date. Students who win the inter-program quiz bee will represent their school in the said competition. The venue and time are still to be identified. The winner of the provincial quiz bee will be sent to Tacloban City for the regional level.

Moreover, PSA has also laid down contests open for BiPSUnistas to join: Spoken Poetry, Stat-Tiktok, Poster-Making Contest, Infographics Making Contest, and Photo Contest. The guidelines will be posted on October 2, and the entry deadline will be on October 8.

Furthermore, Mr. Cinco encourages everyone to anchor their decisions on statistics.

“It’s high time to promote data and statistics—a gate-way for evidence-based decision-making. Whenever we decide, it should be based on statistics,” Mr. Cinco said.