The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Philippine Economic Society (PES) are encouraging students to develop evidence-based thinking as policymakers increasingly rely on data and rigorous evaluation to guide spending, economic programs and public investment decisions.
At a knowledge-sharing forum in Davao City on September 15, BSP Assistant Governor Maria Margarita Debuque-Gonzales urged students to critically assess information and separate assumptions from measurable evidence.
“You do not need to know everything. What matters is learning how to think carefully about a problem and how to distinguish what we believe from what the evidence actually tells us,” she said.
The BSP-PES Knowledge Sharing Event, held at the BSP Mindanao Regional Office, focused on “Putting Policy to the Test: Basics of Impact Evaluation,” highlighting how governments and institutions can determine whether programs are delivering results and whether public resources are being allocated efficiently.
The forum brought together researchers, practitioners, educators, students, policymakers and industry representatives to discuss how impact evaluation can strengthen decision-making and improve the design of development programs.
Monetary Board Member Rosalia V. de Leon said impact evaluation can help identify “what works, what can be improved” and how limited public resources can be used more effectively.
For government and the broader economy, rigorous evaluation is increasingly important as policymakers balance competing spending priorities while seeking programs that can generate measurable social and economic returns.
Dr. Aniceto C. Orbeta Jr., Emeritus Research Fellow and Immediate Past President of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, discussed how impact evaluation research can provide policymakers with stronger evidence on whether development interventions are achieving their intended outcomes.
Dr. Romeo Matthew T. Balanquit, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management and Secretary of the PES Board of Trustees, meanwhile, discussed how evaluation findings can support government budget decisions and improve the efficiency of public spending.
Other speakers included Eugenio Junior A. Gica of the Philippine Statistics Authority, who discussed developments in the regional economy, and Ramonnetto S. Gervacio of the BSP Mindanao Regional Office, who explained the central bank’s role in supporting economic and financial stability.
The audience was composed largely of faculty members and students from senior science high schools and universities.
Through the KSE series, the BSP and PES are also seeking to strengthen economic literacy and encourage more young Filipinos to pursue careers in economics, data analysis, public policy and related fields—areas increasingly important to government, business and financial institutions.
The Davao forum was the second leg of the nationwide KSE series launched in July 2026. Additional forums are scheduled in Cebu in October and Baguio in November.
