NSCB - Statistically Speaking... For Being A Great Supporter Of Statistics, Salamat Po Pres. Cory! by Dr. Romulo A. Virola

For Being A Great Supporter Of Statistics, Salamat Po Pres. Cory!
by Dr. Romulo A. Virola ¹
Secretary General, NSCB

After the death of Pres. Cory, it is amazing to notice the great outpouring of love and affection displayed by young Pinoys, many of whom were not even born and missed those great moments of our history when we defined People Power for all the world to witness and which was to serve as a model of peaceful revolution to be replicated in many other countries later. It is heartwarming to realize too that our young will remember Pres. Cory as the woman who courageously and selflessly led us in the restoration of our democracy. But I feel sad for some of us who were there and fought to get back our dignity, but did not give Pres. Cory the support she needed, nay, made governance very difficult for her, during her term as our reluctant President! If only we united and rallied around her then, and did not foolishly squander those golden opportunities the world offered us, we would have not have to deal with many of the social and economic problems we now face. We really should find time to reflect as a nation – despite the many good traits and strengths of the Pinoys, why haven’t we learned to translate great challenges into golden opportunities?

Yes, our nation owes our former President Corazon C. Aquino a lot! A Whole lot! Surely, she had her faults, but the lucky among us have vivid, fond memories of Pres. Cory which I am sure we will remember and treasure forever. We in the Philippine Statistical System (PSS) have many good things to remember about her when she was the President during the period 1986-1992.

On 18 November 1985, Prime Minister Cesar E. Virata issued Memorandum Order No. 85-9 directing the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) to constitute a Special Committee to Review the PSS² whose recommendations led to the reorganization of the PSS. Pres. Cory signed Executive Order No. 121, “Reorganizing and Strengthening the PSS and for Other Purposes” on January 30, 1987. It was thus, Pres. Cory who created the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) and the Statistical Research and Training Center (SRTC), and renamed the National Census and Statistics Office to National Statistics Office (NSO). One significant statistical development that came as a result of EO 121, is the establishment of coordination structure and mechanisms unique to and which provide the PSS with a comparative advantage over other national statistical systems. Unfortunately, there have been efforts to reorganize the PSS anew and revert to a statistical infrastructure that removes the one important feature recommended by the 1986 PSS review committee – the separation of statistical coordination from data production, which has made statistical coordination in the Philippines more successful than in other countries. The PSS and data users in general, should therefore be eternally grateful to Pres. Cory that in 1992, upon the recommendation of the Secretaries of Socio-Economic Planning, Agriculture and Labor, she vetoed wisely a proposed bill that tried to move the PSS many steps backward. Such moves have been resurrected lately and I hope they will suffer the same fate that Pres. Cory delivered on their earlier version.

It was also during the term of Pres. Cory that Presidential Proclamation No. 647, Declaring the Month of October of Every Year as the National Statistics Month (NSM), was issued on September 20, 1990. Because of this proclamation by Pres. Cory, statistical advocacy prospered in the country and made statistics more widely appreciated by the public than in other countries.

Another milestone is the issuance of Presidential Proclamation No. 652 on October 9, 1990 for the approval and adoption of the Philippine Statistical Development Program (PSDP) 1990-1992 and Perspectives 1993-1995. It was the fourth PSDP but it was the first time a Presidential Proclamation was issued on the PSDP. Pres. Cory, in fact, graciously granted an audience to several members of the NSCB Executive Board to make a presentation on the highlights of the PSDP prior to the signing of the proclamation.

In terms of operational support to the PSS, let us examine the budget given to statistics by the four administrations from the time of Pres. Cory. In our statistical budget process, the key steps are (1) the agencies submit proposals to the DBM; (2) the DBM, with the assistance of NSCB, evaluates and submits its proposal to Congress; (3) Congress evaluates and submits the General Appropriations Act to the President; and (4) the President signs the GAA into law. In this article, we will assess the support to statistics given by the DBM, by Congress and by the administration as a whole thru the following indicators on the budget: (a) DBM-approved over PSS-proposed; (b) Congress-approved over DBM-proposed; and (c) GAA-approved over PSS-proposed and the share of the statistical budget to the national government budget, respectively. Higher ratios or approval rates will be interpreted as better support for statistics. Due to data constraints, however, the statistical budget of the PSS is limited to those of the NSCB, NSO, Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) of the Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES) of the Department of Labor and Employment, and the SRTC. A more thorough assessment would require including the statistical budgets of other government agencies, including the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), that conduct statistical activities and form part of the PSS. Many of these so-called non major statistical agencies have expanded their statistical activities in recent years, indicative of the rising appreciation for statistics in the country. It should also be noted that the indicator for assessing an administration is the result of the joint action of the Executive branch and of Congress.

Let us now see the numbers on the budgetary support to statistics as shown in Tables 1, 2, and 3! The metadata for these Tables are provided in Annex 1.

A. How much support does DBM give to statistics? (Col. 4 of Tables 2 & 3)

Not surprisingly, the DBM has generally approved less than 100 percent of the PSS-proposed budget, except in 1991 with 101.4 percent approval and in 2007 with 154.6 percent approval when the budget for the 2007 PopCen was granted. The percentage of approval for the other years ranged from 34.7 percent in 2005 and 38.3 percent in 2006 when the conduct of the PopCen was disapproved to 98.3 percent in 1990 when the CPH was conducted.

DBM support for statistics was highest during the Aquino administration at 96.9 percent. In fact, it was consistently high during the time of Pres. Cory.

DBM support for statistics during the Ramos and Estrada administrations was lukewarm - the Estrada administration at 76.4 percent, the Ramos administration at 74.4 percent.

DBM support for statistics was lowest during the Arroyo administration at 67.4 percent. In fact, it was low for many years – 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006.

Excluding the censuses, the highest DBM approval rate was still during the Aquino administration at 95.5 percent, followed by 75.5 percent in the Estrada administration, 73.6 percent in the Arroyo administration and 73.0 percent in the Ramos administration.

B. How much support does Congress give to statistics? (Col. 6 of Tables 2 & 3)

Congressional support for statistics has been consistently high.

However, Congress was particularly nasty to statistics in 1991 when it cut the statistical budget by almost 40 percent. In 1991, the budget for the Census of Agriculture and Fisheries was cut but this was the only major hiccup suffered by the PSS in the hands of Congress. As a result, overall congressional support for statistics was lowest during the Aquino administration at 89.3 percent.

Congressional support for statistics was highest in 1998 at 118.9 percent and highest overall at 103.9 percent during the time of Pres. Ramos.

Congressional support for statistics was also high during the Estrada administration at 101.6 percent and during the Arroyo administration at 100.1 percent.

In fact, during the last three years from 2007-2009, Congress has been especially supportive of statistics with approval rates of over a hundred percent each year. This happened during the chairmanship of the Appropriations Committee of Cong. Joey Sarte Salceda, Cong. Edcel C. Lagman, and Cong. Junie E. Cua in the House. The subcommittee handling the PSS budget was chaired during those years by Cong. Mark Cojuangco. Their counterparts in the Senate were Sen. Manuel Villar, Sen. Franklin Drilon and Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile as Chairs of the Senate Committee on Finance.

The two women presidents received less statistical budgetary support from Congress than the two men presidents. Calling Abanse Pinay!

Without the census budgets, Congressional approval rates follow the same trend as that when census budgets are included, with the Ramos administration as the highest at 104.2 percent and the Aquino administration as the lowest at 94.0 percent.

C. How much support does each administration as a whole, give to statistics?
(Col. 7 of Tables 2 & 3)

By administration, highest support for statistics was given jointly by DBM and Congress during the Aquino administration at 86.6 percent. This could have been at a much higher rate of 93.1 % had it not been for the nasty agriculture census budget cut in 1991.

The overall support to statistics was certainly not enthusiastic during the terms of Pres. Ramos and Pres. Estrada.

The lowest overall support for statistics by DBM and Congress combined was during the Arroyo administration at 67.5 percent, which was pulled down by the low approval rate for 2005 when the proposed budget for the PopCen was disapproved by DBM and by the re-enactment of budget in 2006.

However, during the last three years from 2007-2009, the Arroyo administration gained some statistical redemption when the effective approval rate for the statistics budget rose to 108.4 %. The DBM gave much better approval rates and Congress approved slightly even more than what DBM recommended!

Without the census budgets, the Aquino administration had the highest approval rate of 89.8 percent, followed by the Estrada administration at 77.4 percent, the Ramos administration at 76.0 percent and the Arroyo administration at 74.7 percent.

Share of Statistical Budget to the National Government Budget
(Cols. 9-11 of Tables 2 & 3)

In general, the Philippine government support to statistics has not been overwhelming! The share of the approved statistical budget to total national government budget ranged from 0.14 percent to 0.77 percent.

The statistical budget was relatively highest at 0.77 percent in 1990 when the census budgets are included and at 0.70 percent in 1988 when the census budgets are excluded, both times occurring during the term of Pres. Cory.

The statistical budget was relatively lowest at 0.14 percent of the national government budget in 1993 during the term of Pres. Ramos.

Overall, the share of the statistical budget to the total national government budget was highest during the Estrada administration at 0.50 percent followed by the Aquino administration at 0.45 percent.

The Arroyo administration gave 0.40 percent.

The share of statistics to the national budget was lowest during the Ramos administration at 0.26 percent.

The golden age for statistics occurred during the helm of Prof. Solita C. Monsod as Pres. Cory’s Secretary of Socio Economic Planning and Chair of the NSCB. In Mareng Winnie’s time, the effective statistical budget was relatively highest (GAA-approved over PSS-proposed) at 90.9 %. Not only that, the statistical share to the national budget was also at its highest at 0.63 %. That was also the time when we had Guillermo Carague as DBM Secretary and Benjamin E. Diokno and Emilia T. Boncodin as DBM Undersecretaries.

Definitely, Pres. Cory had been most supportive of statistics. And we need not wonder why. Pres. Cory took mathematics as her minor in college in the Unites States.

We always say that we have to invest in statistics because information is power. We need reliable, relevant, useful and timely statistical information towards evidence-based decisions. Without sound statistics, we will not be able to craft proper and appropriate programs and policies in the government as well as in the business sector to reduce poverty and to achieve our Millennium Development Goals. And we are grateful that recently, the DBM has recognized and addressed the dwindling manpower and financial resources provided for statistical activities. We just hope that support for statistics will continue in the coming years. From the private sector too!

Once again, as we bid Goodbye, Thank you for your great support to statistics, Pres. Cory!

Reactions and views are welcome thru email to the author at ra.virola@nscb.gov.ph.

________________

¹ Secretary General of the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) and Chairman of the Statistical Research and Training Center (SRTC). He holds a Ph. D. in Statistics from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, USA and has taught mathematics and statistics at the University of the Philippines. He is also a past president of the Philippine Statistical Association. This article is co-written by Cynthia S. Regalado, OIC-Director of the Policies, Programs and Standards Office, NSCB. It was inspired by a question texted to us before Pres. Arroyo delivered her State of the Nation Address last July 27, 2009 by Cai Ordinario of the Business Mirror on whether Pres. Arroyo was supportive of statistics. The authors thank Lina V. Castro, Noel S. Nepomuceno, Jessamyn O. Encarnacion, Candido J. Astrologo, Jr., Juan O. Miralles, Jayne A. Monteza, Patricia Anne L. Rivera, Millicent Gay B. Tejada, Lotis I. Ira, Norma P. Guevarra, Dolores M. Pillas, Ma. Libertie V. Masculino, Agnes V. Capule and Albert A. Garcia for the assistance in the preparation of the article. The views expressed in the article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the NSCB.

² The output of the Review Committee was the “Report of the Special Committee to Review the Philippine Statistical System.” The Committee was Chaired by the eminent demographer, UN-awardee and academician Dr. Mercedes B. Concepcion with the following as Members: Mr. Luis R. Baltazar, Dr. Manuel F. Montes, Dr. Emmanuel T. Velasco and Dr. Burton T. Onate. Dr. Filologo Pante Jr. and Dr. Marcelo M. Orense were Ex-officio Members while Dr. Isidoro P. David, Dr. Mitsuo Ono, Mr. Wilfredo G. Nuqui, Mr. Prospero M. Castro and Mr. Elpidio D. Makanas served as Consultants.

Annex 08-10-2009-1

Statistical Budgets of the PSS Major Statistical Agencies

Table 1 presents the budgets proposed by the major statistical agencies and the budgets approved by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) thru the National Expenditure Program (NEP) and the Congress thru the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for the years 1988 to 2009. Proposed budgets are generally for the undertaking and improving of regular statistical activities/outputs; implementation of periodic activities, such as censuses; addressing the demands of data users and responding to emerging concerns, such as more frequent data, lower geographic disaggregated data, and new indicators; and undertaking of developmental activities. Generally, bigger budgets are proposed/approved during years when censuses are conducted.

Table 2 presents the ratios of the total proposed and approved statistical budgets and the share of the statistical budget to the national government budget, with the years grouped by administration of the government, as follows: Aquino administration (1988-1992), Ramos administration (1993-1998), Estrada administration (1999-2001), and Arroyo administration (2002-2009). Budget figures during the Aquino administration started in 1988 as the NSCB and SRTC were created only in 1987. Table 2 includes the budgets for the various censuses.

Table 3 shows the proposed and approved statistical budgets without the census budgets as the censuses, particularly the censuses of population and housing, require large budgets and are implemented periodically.

It should be noted that for the years 2001, 2004 and 2006, the government adopted the re-enacted budget.

Censuses include the Census of Population and Housing (CPH)/Census of Population (PopCen) and the Census of Agriculture and Fisheries (CAF) which are conducted every 10 years by the National Statistics Office (NSO) per designated schedule and if budget permits. The CPH was conducted in 1990 and 2000 while the PopCen was conducted in 1995 and 2007. The CAF, on the other hand, was conducted in 1991 and 2003. Proposals to conduct the PopCen first in 2005 and then in 2006 were not approved. Although there was no original PSS proposal for its conduct in 2007 since it was already close to the next CPH in 2010, a budget for the census was provided and the conduct of the 2007 PopCen was pursued.

Table 1.
Proposed and Approved Budgets of Major Statistical Agencies
(with Census Budgets), 1988-2009
(in thousand pesos)

Year	Proposed Budget						DBM-Approved Budget (Based on NEP)						Congress-Approved Budget (Based on GAA)
Year	NSO	NSCB	BAS	BLES	SRTC	Total	NSO	NSCB	BAS	BLES	SRTC	Total	NSO	NSCB	BAS	BLES	SRTC	Total
1988	197,074	30,380	59,880	3,144	8,567	299,045	175,356	27,369	66,969	3,868	6,163	279,725	151,174	17,818	59,880	3,144	8,567	240,583
1989	315,336	33,388	68,509	4,710	6,571	428,514	269,001	30,079	70,959	4,927	5,668	380,634	265,218	29,653	68,509	4,710	6,571	374,661
1990 ^1/	626,622	39,211	64,744	5,620	3,602	739,799	609,729	35,325	72,812	5,620	3,602	727,088	609,729	35,325	64,744	5,620	3,602	719,020
1991 ^2/	499,280	40,138	59,509	5,506	3,551	607,984	488,644	36,160	79,587	7,908	4,336	616,635	286,339	34,195	59,509	5,506	3,551	389,100
1992	509,829	40,665	75,689	8,483	4,205	638,871	501,984	36,635	75,689	8,483	4,205	626,996	501,984	36,635	75,689	8,483	4,205	626,996
1993	634,835	30,044	78,038	8,009	3,999	754,925	296,919	27,067	78,038	8,009	3,999	414,032	296,919	27,067	78,038	8,009	3,999	414,032
1994	461,396	50,587	130,771	17,966	5,552	666,272	347,154	45,574	85,858	16,645	8,880	504,111	302,321	31,763	130,771	17,966	5,552	488,373
1995 ^3/	725,621	39,953	144,214	18,378	6,387	934,554	647,826	35,994	105,604	18,378	6,387	814,189	637,826	35,994	144,214	18,378	6,387	842,799
1996	648,819	45,039	168,139	18,957	7,777	888,731	539,537	40,576	125,357	19,592	7,777	732,839	539,537	40,576	168,139	18,957	7,777	774,986
1997	838,682	71,784	224,906	19,400	6,648	1,161,420	648,804	49,059	144,873	19,770	7,410	869,916	514,163	45,204	224,906	19,400	6,648	810,321
1998	877,042	114,482	234,574	24,399	13,193	1,263,690	568,013	127,616	159,136	20,602	10,139	885,506	666,194	114,482	234,574	24,399	13,193	1,052,842
1999	1,293,905	127,702	281,477	20,546	8,766	1,732,396	749,576	115,047	176,466	20,546	8,766	1,070,401	744,479	114,899	281,477	20,546	8,766	1,170,167
2000 ^1/	1,847,481	175,778	258,359	24,676	9,754	2,316,048	1,554,407	98,116	212,487	24,676	9,858	1,899,544	1,531,357	97,441	258,359	24,676	9,754	1,921,587
*2001	1,095,833	158,315	443,477	34,849	24,520	1,756,994	1,043,240	83,596	307,592	20,045	9,373	1,463,846	1,043,240	83,596	258,359	20,045	9,373	1,414,613
2002	1,791,663	135,026	422,284	26,548	12,311	2,387,832	892,917	79,472	217,661	19,722	9,373	1,219,145	892,917	79,472	282,913	19,722	9,373	1,284,397
2003 ^2/	2,065,766	114,867	348,498	28,957	60,660	2,618,748	1,202,572	69,607	190,998	20,742	9,204	1,493,123	1,027,424	66,314	265,731	18,716	9,204	1,387,389
*2004	1,035,604	108,781	248,233	27,332	30,664	1,450,614	823,227	71,823	218,418	19,968	9,552	1,142,988	823,227	66,314	218,418	18,716	9,204	1,135,879
2005	2,376,389	83,659	252,672	29,412	31,028	2,773,160	656,318	71,540	194,609	20,463	19,936	962,866	656,318	71,540	275,395	20,463	19,936	1,043,652
*2006	2,425,296	81,873	272,244	27,635	30,223	2,837,271	753,651	73,339	217,942	20,571	20,245	1,085,748	656,318	71,540	217,942	20,463	19,936	986,199
2007 ^3/	1,377,308	132,212	296,898	132,184	67,246	1,905,848	2,603,431	84,188	203,588	20,861	35,263	2,947,331	2,603,431	84,188	231,418	20,861	35,263	2,975,161
2008	1,178,701	91,863	320,263	33,764	33,323	1,657,914	981,151	78,233	202,262	22,377	31,013	1,315,036	979,151	78,233	230,408	22,377	31,013	1,341,182
2009	1,499,133	117,932	378,381	29,629	46,390	2,071,465	1,396,737	83,428	220,938	26,852	33,199	1,761,154	1,396,737	83,428	250,049	26,852	33,199	1,790,265

* Re-enacted budget - with NEP budget only; estimated budget for GAA is the previous year's GAA budget or current year's NEP budget whichever is lower.

1/ - Census of Population and Housing (CPH) conducted
2/ - Census of Agriculture and Fisheries (CAF) conducted
3/ - Census of Population (PopCen) conducted (budget for 2007 Census not part of the proposed budget)

Notes:
(1) Census budgets include also the preparatory activities done before the census year and the data processing and dissemination activities done after the census year.
(2) BAS, BLES and SRTC were not able to provide the proposed budget figures from 1988 to 2000 due to unavailable records. GAA-approved figures were considered the proposed figures.

Sources: Major Statistical Agencies, National Expenditure Program (NEP), and General Appropriations Act (GAA).

Table 2.
Approval Rates and Share of PSS Statistical Budget by Administration
(with Census Budgets), 1988-2009
(in thousand pesos)

Year	Total Proposed Budget	Census Budget	Total DBM-Approved Budget (Based on NEP)	Census Budget	% of Budget Approval (DBM-Approved Over Proposed)	Total Congress-Approved Budget (Based on GAA)	Census Budget	% of Budget Approval (Congress-Approved Over DBM-Proposed)	% of Statistical Budget Approved (GAA) Over Proposed	Total Government Budget** (Based on GAA)	% of Statistical Budget to Total Government Budget	% Change in Statistical Budget (Column 5)	% Change in Total Government Budget** (Column 8)
(1)	(2)		(3)		(4)=(3)/(2)	(5)		(6)=(5)/(3)	(7)=(5)/(2)	(8)	(9)=(5)/(8)	(10)	(11)
Aquino Administration
1988	299,045		279,725		93.5	240,583		86.0	80.5	34,165,571	0.70
1989	428,514		380,634		88.8	374,661		98.4	87.4	83,881,257	0.45	55.7	145.5
1990 ^1/	739,799	198,087	727,088	215,351	98.3	719,020	215,351	98.9	97.2	93,702,687	0.77	91.9	11.7
Total 1988-1990	1,467,357		1,387,447			1,334,264			90.9	211,749,515	0.63
1991 ^2/	607,984	213,428	616,635	208,928	101.4	389,100	50,000	63.1	64.0	137,638,129	0.28	-45.9	46.9
1992	638,871	178,081	626,996	178,081	98.1	626,996	178,081	100.0	98.1	178,151,671	0.35	61.1	29.4
Total	2,714,212		2,631,078		96.9	2,350,360		89.3	86.6	527,539,315	0.45
RamosAdministration
1993	754,925		414,032		54.8	414,032		100.0	54.8	292,777,030	0.14	-34.0	64.3
1994	666,272		504,111		75.7	488,373		96.9	73.3	253,396,612	0.19	18.0	-13.5
1995 ^3/	934,554	300,000	814,189	300,000	87.1	842,799	300,000	103.5	90.2	310,801,101	0.27	72.6	22.7
1996	888,731		732,839		82.5	774,986		105.8	87.2	313,837,812	0.25	-8.0	1.0
1997	1,161,420		869,916		74.9	810,321		93.1	69.8	230,981,910	0.35	4.6	-26.4
1998	1,263,690		885,506		70.1	1,052,842		118.9	83.3	301,378,319	0.35	29.9	30.5
Total	5,669,593		4,220,593		74.4	4,383,353		103.9	77.3	1,703,172,784	0.26
Estrada Administration
1999	1,732,396	249,808	1,070,401	129,730	61.8	1,170,167	126,070	109.3	67.5	282,874,566	0.41	11.1	-6.1
2000 ^1/	2,316,048	947,957	1,899,544	912,017	82.0	1,921,587	906,199	101.2	83.0	298,327,423	0.64	64.2	5.5
*2001	1,756,994	181,738	1,463,846	49,811	83.3	1,414,613	49,811	96.6	80.5	329,066,548	0.43	-26.4	10.3
Total	5,805,437		4,433,791		76.4	4,506,366		101.6	77.6	910,268,537	0.50
Arroyo Administration
2002	2,387,832	858,148	1,219,145	175,523	51.1	1,284,397	175,523	105.4	53.8	330,998,100	0.39	-9.2	0.6
2003 ^2/	2,618,748	1,071,946	1,493,123	479,192	57.0	1,387,389	359,194	92.9	53.0	309,093,626	0.45	8.0	-6.6
*2004	1,450,614	82,393	1,142,988	68,213	78.8	1,135,879	68,213	99.4	78.3	307,281,485	0.37	-18.1	-0.6
2005	2,773,160	1,350,066	962,866		34.7	1,043,652		108.4	37.6	309,075,397	0.34	-8.1	0.6
*2006	2,837,271	1,392,230	1,085,748		38.3	986,199		90.8	34.8	290,804,111	0.34	-5.5	-5.9
2007 ^3/	1,905,848		2,947,331	1,574,000	154.6	2,975,161	1,574,000	100.9	156.1	400,797,495	0.74	201.7	37.8
2008	1,657,914		1,315,036		79.3	1,341,182		102.0	80.9	459,000,340	0.29	-54.9	14.5
2009	2,071,465	361,703	1,761,154	361,703	85.0	1,790,265	361,703	101.7	86.4	568,945,387	0.31	33.5	24.0
Total 2007-2009	5,635,227		6,023,521			6,106,608		101.4	108.4
Total	17,702,852		11,927,391		67.4	11,944,125		100.1	67.5	2,975,995,941	0.40

* Re-enacted budget - with NEP budget only; estimated budget for GAA is the previous year's GAA budget or current year's NEP budget whichever is lower.

Sources: Major Statistical Agencies, National Expenditure Program (NEP), and General Appropriations Act (GAA).

Table 3.
Table 3. Approval Rates and Share of PSS Statistical Budget by Administration (without Census Budgets), 1988-2009
(in thousand pesos)

Year	Total Proposed Budget	Total DBM-Approved Budget (Based on NEP)	% of Budget Approval (DBM-Approved Over Proposed)	Total Congress-Approved Budget (Based on GAA)	% of Budget Approval (Congress-Approved Over DBM-Proposed)	% of Statistical Budget Approved (GAA) Over Proposed	Total Government Budget (Based on GAA)**	% of Statistical Budget to Total Government Budget	% Change in Statistical Budget (Column 5)	% Change in Total Government Budget** (Column 8)
(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)=(3)/(2)	(5)	(6)=(5)/(3)	(7)=(5)/(2)	(8)	(9)=(5)/(8)	(10)	(11)
Aquino Administration
1988	299,045	279,725	93.5	240,583	86.0	80.5	34,165,571	0.70
1989	428,514	380,634	88.8	374,661	98.4	87.4	83,881,257	0.45	55.7	145.5
1990 ^1/	541,712	511,737	94.5	503,669	98.4	93.0	93,702,687	0.54	34.4	11.7
1991 ^2/	394,556	407,707	103.3	339,100	83.2	85.9	137,638,129	0.25	-32.7	46.9
1992	460,790	448,915	97.4	448,915	100.0	97.4	178,151,671	0.25	32.4	29.4
Total	2,124,616	2,028,718	95.5	1,906,928	94.0	89.8	527,539,315	0.36
RamosAdministration
1993	754,925	414,032	54.8	414,032	100.0	54.8	292,777,030	0.14	-7.8	64.3
1994	666,272	504,111	75.7	488,373	96.9	73.3	253,396,612	0.19	18.0	-13.5
1995 ^3/	634,554	514,189	81.0	542,799	105.6	85.5	310,801,101	0.17	11.1	22.7
1996	888,731	732,839	82.5	774,986	105.8	87.2	313,837,812	0.25	42.8	1.0
1997	1,161,420	869,916	74.9	810,321	93.1	69.8	230,981,910	0.35	4.6	-26.4
1998	1,263,690	885,506	70.1	1,052,842	118.9	83.3	301,378,319	0.35	29.9	30.5
Total	5,369,593	3,920,593	73.0	4,083,353	104.2	76.0	1,703,172,784	0.24
Estrada Administration
1999	1,482,588	940,671	63.4	1,044,097	111.0	70.4	282,874,566	0.37	-0.8	-6.1
2000 ^1/	1,368,091	987,527	72.2	1,015,388	102.8	74.2	298,327,423	0.34	-2.7	5.5
*2001	1,575,256	1,414,035	89.8	1,364,802	96.5	86.6	329,066,548	0.41	34.4	10.3
Total	4,425,934	3,342,233	75.5	3,424,286	102.5	77.4	910,268,537	0.38
Arroyo Administration
2002	1,529,684	1,043,622	68.2	1,108,874	106.3	72.5	330,998,100	0.34	-18.8	0.6
2003 ^2/	1,546,802	1,013,931	65.6	1,028,195	101.4	66.5	309,093,626	0.33	-7.3	-6.6
*2004	1,368,221	1,074,775	78.6	1,067,666	99.3	78.0	307,281,485	0.35	3.8	-0.6
2005	1,423,094	962,866	67.7	1,043,652	108.4	73.3	309,075,397	0.34	-2.2	0.6
*2006	1,445,041	1,085,748	75.1	986,199	90.8	68.2	290,804,111	0.34	-5.5	-5.9
2007 ^3/	1,905,848	1,373,331	72.1	1,401,161	102.0	73.5	400,797,495	0.35	42.1	37.8
2008	1,657,914	1,315,036	79.3	1,341,182	102.0	80.9	459,000,340	0.29	-4.3	14.5
2009	1,709,762	1,399,451	81.9	1,428,562	102.1	83.6	568,945,387	0.25	6.5	24.0
Total	12,586,366	9,268,760	73.6	9,405,492	101.5	74.7	2,975,995,941	0.32

* Re-enacted budget - with NEP budget only; estimated budget for GAA is the previous year's GAA budget or current year's NEP budget whichever is lower.

Sources: Major Statistical Agencies, National Expenditure Program (NEP), and General Appropriations Act (GAA).

Posted 10 August 2009