ILOILO CITY (PIA) - - A staff of Jordan Local Civil Registry Office (LCRO) of Jordan town won the 34th Civil Registration Month (CRM) Provincial Quiz Bee conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) – Guimaras.

Michael C. Esprago bested representatives from other LCROs  from the four municipalities of the province during the competition, one of the events held on February 2 to kick off the month-long CRM celebration in the province.

Esprago won a P3,000 cash prize and a certificate of recognition. He will also represent the province to the regional level of the competition.

“Esprago will represent the province of Guimaras at the regional level quiz bee competition, one of the regional activities commemorating the 34th CRM. He also defeated other provincial contestants of region 6 during the 32nd CRM at the regional level and we are looking forward to bringing home the bacon in this year’s 34th CRM Quiz Bee Competition,” said Provincial Statistics Officer Nelida B. Losare.

Conducted in partnership with the Guimaras Civil Registrar’s Association Inc (GCRAI), the contest tested the level of awareness and readiness of the LCRO staff in answering queries of clients regarding civil registry documents processes and their knowledge of statistics and official data of their municipality, including gender issues and concerns, as well as on current events.

“I am grateful for the annual support of the contestants who bravely accepted the challenge to represent their municipality in the Quiz Bee contest, unveiling their expertise in the field of civil registration,” said Losare. 

According to Losare registered vital events in 2023 in the province dropped by -9.89%, wherein births registered dropped by -9.89%, marriages and deaths also decreased by -14.89% and -6.52%, respectively.

On the other hand, the LCRO of Nueva Valencia town was awarded as the Best LCRO, followed by Jordan LCRO and Buenavista LCRO. The LCRO of Sibunag was hailed for their exemplary commitment to timeliness and accuracy in the monthly Decentralized Vital Statistics System reports, while the LCRO of Jordan and Nueva Valencia garnered an award for their 100% coverage on Barangay Civil Registry System (BCRS) implementation and encoding of the survey result.

Mayor Cresente P. Chaves, Jr. of Jordan who attended the opening ceremony acknowledged the importance of the works of the civil registrars and expressed support for the celebration which is in pursuant to Presidential Proclamation No. 682 declaring February of every year as Civil Registration Month. This year’s theme is “CRVS: the Future of Seamless Services”.

There will also be mobile registration and gift giving, mass weddings, BCRS Implementation, Tree Planting, Coastal Clean-Up, Binalabay contest for Jr. High School students, and CRVS Jingle interpretative dance contest for Sr. High School students that will be conducted to further mark the celebration.

The provincial celebration will be formally closed on February 29, the last working day of the month. (AAL/LAF/PIA6-Iloilo)