PREFACE

The 1996 Philippine Standard Geographic Code (PSGC) is a systematic classification and coding of the geographic areas in the country. The 1996 PSGC revises and updates the 1977 PSGC to enhance the comparability of statistics gathered and presented by different agencies. It incorporates changes in the names, number and status (as in the conversion of a municipality to a city) of geographical-political units that took place from 1977 to 1996.

It is based on the Masterlist of Barangays as of 31 December 1996 established by the Technical Working Group on Geographic Classification (TWG-GC) of the NSCB Technical Committee on Statistical Standards and Classifications. The TWG-GC is composed of members from the:

• Commission on Elections (COMELEC)
• National Barangays Operations Office (NBOO) and Planning Service of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG)
• National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA)
• National Statistics Office (NSO)
• Department of Budget and Management(DBM)
• National Computer Center (NCC)
• NSCB.

The 1996 PSGC consists of two parts:

• Part I is the Municipality Code Book which contains the description of the coding system and procedures for updating the codes, the list of municipalities and cities (or city districts in case of the City of Manila) and their corresponding geographic codes. To make the Municipality Code Book more useful, the classification of provinces and municipalities according to their income size is likewise presented.
• Part II is the Barangay Code Book which lists the barangays by municipality/city, by province and by region with their corresponding geographic as well as urban/rural classification codes.

The 1996 PSGC is intended to serve as a basic tool for ensuring the comparability of statistics relating to the geographical areas of the country and as a guide in local development planning. The common adoption of the 1996 PSGC and other standard classification systems will also enhance the development of data banks and promote efficiency in the Philippine Statistical System.

The revision and updating of the PSGC would not have been possible without the active participation of specialists from concerned government agencies working together as members of the Technical Working Group on Geographic Classification (TWG-GC) under the direction of the NSCB Technical Committee on Statistical Standards and Classifications (TCSSC). We gratefully acknowledge their contribution for the success of this undertaking.

We would like also to express our gratitude to the heads of the member agencies for giving their full support to their designated representatives in the TWG-GC and to the members of the TCSSC for their suggestions and guidance in the resolution of problems and issues elevated by the TWG-GC.