CAGAYAN de Oro City — How many tourists visit Iligan, how much they spend, and which communities need more support are among the questions reliable data can help answer as the city seeks to grow its tourism sector.
Iligan City opened the 37th National Statistics Month on Oct. 5, highlighting how statistics can guide tourism planning, identify economic opportunities and help local officials make better decisions.
The Iligan City Statistical Coordinating Council (IC-SCC), Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)-Lanao del Norte and the city government, through the City Planning and Development Office, led the opening ceremony.
This year's theme is “Tuklas Pilipinas: Statistics as a Beacon Towards Inclusive, Resilient, and Sustainable Tourism.”
Brenda Lynn M. Castro, officer-in-charge of PSA-Lanao del Norte, said tourism data on visitor demand, spending and ecotourism can help officials assess the city's economic performance and identify areas for improvement.
Reliable statistics, she said, can help policymakers address challenges and build a tourism sector that is more resilient and responsive to local needs.
Castro added that the PSA continues to coordinate with the city government and IC-SCC to integrate data into local planning, policymaking and program implementation.
Iligan City Administrator Darwin Manubag, chairperson of the IC-SCC, said Mayor Frederick W. Siao supports using statistics to guide government programs and development priorities.
Manubag cited city figures showing tourist arrivals rising from about 200,000 in earlier years to more than 500,000. He said Iligan aims to attract more domestic visitors through conferences, festivals and other events.
However, the figures cited during the opening were not accompanied by a specific reporting period or a breakdown of how tourist arrivals were counted.
Manubag pointed to the recently held Diyandi Festival as an example of how tourism events can generate business for hotels, restaurants and other establishments.
“Data and statistics are very important because they help us determine where we need to intervene and what programs we can adopt in the coming years,” he said.
Beyond tourism, Manubag cited the Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) as a tool for identifying the poorest communities and determining what assistance they need. The information also supports the city's poverty reduction planning.
The month-long celebration includes forums and training on Provincial Product Accounts, geographic information systems, data governance, descriptive analytics, data visualization using artificial intelligence-enabled tools, R programming and biostatistics.
Other activities include a data storytelling challenge, tourism photography and statistics contests, an infographic contest, STAT WARS 2026 for Iligan City senior high school students, an interagency bowling tournament and mangrove planting.
Events will be held at Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, Robinsons Place Iligan, the City Development Information and Innovation Systems Office and other venues in Iligan City and Lanao del Norte.
The celebration will conclude with the 37th NSM closing activities and a forum on construction statistics. (With a report from Rachel D. Ala/PIA-10/Lanao del Norte)
