The Commission on Population and Development is currently undergoing a rebrand of its shortened name from POPCOM to CPD, as a way to significantly mark its 55th year of establishment in 2024 as the country’s lead government agency in implementing the Philippine Population and Development Program.
This was disclosed by Executive Director Lisa Grace S. Bersales, Ph.D., as she referenced legislation for the transition of the commission’s moniker into an acronym. As such, the iteration effectively enables the agency to be formally recognized as CPD throughout the country.
Specifically, Bersales cited Executive Order 71, s. 2018 signed by former president Rodrigo Duterte, specifically Section 1 (Renaming and Attachment), as the basis of the agency’s long-overdue change of its proper acronym. The EO also directed the reattachment of the commission to the National Economic and Development Authority or NEDA to strengthen the development and implementation of population-related programs and strategies driving the country’s socioeconomic development. The commission which was created through RA 6365 otherwise known as the Population Act of the Philippines 1971 and amended through Presidential Decree 79, 1972.
According to the Undersecretary, “the rebrand of the commission as CPD is already being implemented in all its regional offices, with the general guidance of its Central Office.”
“Our Board of Commissioners, led by Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan as chairperson, fully supports the agency’s rebranding to CPD from this point forward, in full adherence to a legislation previously enacted by a chief executive,” confirmed Bersales.
The commission’s chief commented: “The way Filipinos know and call us may change from an old abbreviation, yet our mandate and brand of service in empowering families and communities will remain steadfast and far-reaching—the way we have made our mark for 55 years, and as we carry on for the next 55 and beyond.”
She further stated that the agency carrying its new moniker will focus on strengthening the country’s population and development program through the implementation of the Philippine Population and Development Plan of Action or PPD-PoA 2023-2028, anchored on the current administration’s Philippine Development Plan.