NSCB - 2005-2010 Philippine Statistical Development Program

OVERVIEW

1. Introduction

The Philippine Statistical System

The Philippine Statistical System (PSS) is a government-wide system of providing statistical information and services to the public. It is a decentralized structure comprised of the major statistical agencies and other units in the government, both national and local, engaged in the production of statistics resulting from surveys/censuses and administrative/management and regulatory functions. The major statistical agencies in the PSS include a statistical policy-making and coordinating body, National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB); producer of general purpose statistics, National Statistics Office (NSO); producer of agriculture and fishery statistics, Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) of the Department of Agriculture (DA); producer of specific purpose statistics on labor and employment, Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES) of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE); producer of monetary and banking statistics, Department of Economic Statistics of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP); and a research and non-formal training institution on statistics, Statistical Research and Training Center (SRTC). Other data producers of statistics in government include divisions/units usually within the planning service of the various departments and bureaus.

The Philippine Statistical Development Program

The Philippine Statistical Development Program (PSDP) is a mechanism for setting the directions, thrusts and priorities of the PSS for the medium term. It defines the priority statistical programs and activities in the medium term designed to provide vital information support for the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) as well as promote efficiency of statistical operations through an optimum use of available resources and adoption of cost effective measures. Also, it is a tool for integrating and coordinating the statistical activities of the government and enjoins compliance and cooperation among various agencies.

The preparation of the PSDP took into consideration the guidelines in the design of a National Strategy for the Development of Statistics (NSDS) formulated by the Partnership in Statistics for the Development in the 21st Century (PARIS21). The NSDS is a strategic approach being advocated by PARIS21 to provide the information requirements and improve the statistical base of the countries in monitoring and evaluating national development programs.

Stakeholders, Target Users

The PSDP shall guide the PSS agencies in the formulation and implementation of statistical activities in the period, 2005-2010. The statistical programs and activities contained in the PSDP are designed to improve the statistical operations in the System and generate critical and important indicators on socio-economic, socio-political, environmental and technological conditions of the country. The statistical programs and activities are also geared towards the improvement of the delivery of outputs by the agencies.

Because the PSDP is a comprehensive framework, it is important to the stakeholders and data users – the private sector, academic and research institutions, civil society, and international community – as reference on what can be expected from the PSS in terms of statistics/indicators that are available or will be made available in the medium term. It enables them to monitor the statistical progress and development that fill in their statistical needs. As a dynamic document, it allows updating based on the changing statistical priorities in the various sectors/themes it covers, the cost of data collection and dissemination, and compliance to international commitments.

Basis for the Formulation

Three (3) major aspects were considered in the formulation of the PSDP 2005-2010.

It underpins the development themes of the MTPDP 2004-2010, adopted from the Ten Point Agenda of the Arroyo administration and thrusts and strategies in the National Development Agenda, which have been translated into statistical chapters, each with corresponding statistical development programs.
It highlights the various statistical development concerns and challenges in the PSS including but not limited to further strengthening of statistical policy formulation and coordination mechanisms, legislative measures on statistics, sub-national statistical system, and improvement of existing and developing new data systems, dissemination and archiving activities to address the emerging and changing needs of data users and stakeholders.

The PSDP specifies activities towards building the statistical capacity of the PSS and more importantly, programs to improve and develop existing resources in the System. It makes room for the development of information technology in the PSS and paves the way in strengthening further the sub-national statistical system to generate more relevant local statistical information that caters to the need of local policy-makers, government executives, and private sector.

It gives particular attention to the commitments of the Philippines in the international statistical community, such as monitoring of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)¹, and adoption of the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics. Specifically, the PSDP identifies programs that improve existing as well as develop new statistical methodologies and frameworks and statistical indicators adapting the international standards.

Vision of the PSDP

The PSDP 2005-2010 envisions a Philippine Statistical System with greater capacity to provide excellent service and high quality statistical information for policy analysis and decision-making to meet the changing needs of the stakeholders, data users, society and the international community.

PSDP Goals

Goal 1: To provide the government, the private sector and the public with quality statistics on economic, demographic, social and environmental situation as basis for development planning, policy formulation, decision-making and research

Goal 2: To promote the importance of quality official statistics in the PSS with improved transparency to maintain trust and confidence of users

Goal 3: To strengthen the capacity of PSS institutions to deliver statistical products and services by developing its human, capital, and physical resources and improving statistical infrastructure

Key Result Areas

The following key result areas reflect an effective, efficient, strong and well-developed statistical system capable of delivering quality statistical products and services:

Effective statistical policies and coordination mechanisms to address the statistical development challenges in the PSS.

The statistical policies focus on promoting the importance and relevance of the PSS at the national, sub-national and international levels and foster tighter cooperation among PSS members towards elevating to a higher level the country’s statistical development. These include policies that promote the a) standardization of concepts and methodologies used in statistical operations; b) extensive data sharing among government agencies; c) establishment of new and strengthening of existing statistical units in the government that will undertake the generation and dissemination of reliable and useful statistical information for public use; and d) entrepreneurial thrust in the PSS.
Relevant and verifiable socio-economic, environmental and other statistics and indicators that address the information demands of data users and stakeholders at the local, national and international levels.

The focus is to generate relevant statistics and information on industries/sectors that have significant contributions to the Philippine economy as well as information on sectors/areas of concern that affect and impact on the country’s socio-economic development (e.g., generation of statistics and indicators on emerging industries/sectors).
Strong and effective subnational statistical system able to generate and disseminate relevant local statistics necessary for planning of development programs and for decision-making and effective governance at the subnational level.

This will be effected thru the expansion of statistical activities at the provincial and city levels. Strengthening policy and coordination function and data systems shall be pursued to produce statistical information needed in the region/locality.
Maximize use of information technology in data collection, processing, analysis, dissemination and archiving to enable faster and wider utilization of data and promote transparency, information sharing and user confidence on official statistics.

The thrust is to capitalize on existing developments in information technology, specifically in enjoining government agencies to establish websites and develop statistical information systems that would enable them to upload/share statistical information available in the agency. The development of interactive national statistical databases shall be promoted for sectors such as agriculture, tourism, trade and industry, among others; and to develop innovative statistical software that could be used within the PSS.
Improve availability and dissemination of statistics in the PSS thru stronger adoption of the Government Statistics Accessibility Program (GSAP) and the General Standards on Statistical Information Dissemination (GSSID) and strict compliance of the standards in the release of official statistics in the PSS.

More importantly, the thrust is to promote the adoption of the concept of public good among government agencies as well as the Pricing Policy of the PSS (NSCB Resolution No. 11, Series of 1999).
Enhance capacity development within the PSS, including improvement in the quality of human statistical manpower, to generate and disseminate quality official statistics.

The focus is to elevate statistics as a recognized profession, to establish a scientific career system for statisticians, and to provide more training opportunities for those involved in statistics.
Maximize use and improved quality of administrative reports as official source of statistical data and information in the PSS.

In particular, the focus is to review various administrative forms for consistency and conformity with statistical standards in order to generate official government statistics and to develop standards and methodologies in processing administrative forms to generate more relevant data and indicators, such as on good governance thus, reducing heavy reliance to surveys and censuses. In addition, data sharing of administrative-based information in the bureaucracy and intra-department statistical coordination shall be promoted.
Improve methodology and framework of censuses/surveys and administrative reporting to generate relevant, timely, reliable, and accessible statistical information and indicators at the micro and macro levels, for effective national and local governance.

The focus is on strengthening statistical research and development within the PSS, specifically on updating existing methodologies and frameworks to be more responsive of the current state of affairs in the local, national and international fronts.
Strong and more active participation in international statistics

The PSS’ active participation in international statistics shall first and foremost give attention to the Philippines’ commitment towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by providing the required statistical indicators to monitor them. Other statistical requirements contained in international declarations/commitments shall be addressed. The PSS agencies shall be active in statistical affairs of international and regional bodies such as the United Nations and the ASEAN.

Formulation Process

The preparation of the PSDP 2005-2010 included the formulation of a planning framework that covers the vision, goals, and thrusts and strategies for the medium term. An Inter-agency Steering Committee on PSDP 2005-2010 was organized with the NSCB as chair, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) as co-chair and with membership composed of heads of major statistical agencies, chairs of inter-agency committees created by the NSCB, data producers and users in the government, private sector, and the academe.

Existing inter-agency committees/technical working groups drafted the statistical programs that address the statistical requirements of the MTPDP 2004-2010 and various statistical concerns of the PSS. The strategic plans of the major statistical agencies have been also considered in the formulation of the PSDP.

The PSDP includes indicative statistical budgets that translate in monetary terms the priority statistical programs and activities. The indicative budgets serve as a guide to government fiscal planners as to the funding requirements of the PSDP. This creates a window of opportunity to further strengthen the efforts of the PSS in seeking international funding for developmental statistical activities. The indicative budgets will be useful in the annual statistical budget preparation of the agencies.

The draft PSDP was presented in a series of consultative meetings with data users, producers and other stakeholders. Revisions to the draft incorporated the views and comments of the resource persons and the final draft of the PSDP was presented to and approved by the NSCB Executive Board. To promote the adoption of the PSDP 2005-2010, as a legal and binding document, the NSCB Executive Board, thru its Chairman, issued a memorandum requesting endorsement of the PSDP 2005-2010 from the President. Thus, Presidential Proclamation No. 1140 was signed on 19th September 2006 which contain provisions that future revisions/updating of the Medium-Term Expenditure Plan (MTEP) shall consider budgets for statistical activities.

Chapters in the PSDP

The PSDP 2005-2010 is divided into four (4) major parts covering twenty-five (25) chapters:

Part 1 – PSS-Wide Concerns
                Chapter 1. Management and Coordination of the PSS
                Chapter 2. Statistical Human Resource Management and Development
                Chapter 3. Statistical Research and Development
                Chapter 4. Statistical Standards and Classification Systems
                Chapter 5. Statistical Information Management and Dissemination

Part 2 – Sub-National Statistical System
Chapter 6. Sub-National Statistical System

Part 3 – Economic Sectors
                Chapter 7. Macroeconomic Accounts
                Chapter 8. Finance
                Chapter 9.  Prices
                Chapter 10. Trade, Industry, and Investment
                Chapter 11. Agriculture and Agrarian Reform
                Chapter 12. Infrastructure and Transportation
                Chapter 13. Environment and Natural Resources
                Chapter 14. Energy
                Chapter 15. Tourism
                Chapter 16. Science and Technology
                Chapter 17. Information and Communications Technology

Part 4 – Social Sectors
                Chapter 18. Poverty
                Chapter 19. Population and Housing
                Chapter 20. Labor, Income, and Employment
                Chapter 21. Health and Nutrition
                Chapter 22. Education, Culture, and Arts
                Chapter 23. Social Needs, and Gender and Development
                Chapter 24. Peace and Order
                Chapter 25. Anti-Corruption and Good Governance

2. Major Issues and Challenges in the PSS

The new millennium ushers in emerging challenges for the PSS that put to test its strength and capability to adapt to the constantly evolving demands of data users. Numerous issues arise within and outside the System that need to be dealt with constructively in order to respond effectively to its mandate of providing data users and stakeholders with quality statistical information.

The major issues and challenges confronting the PSS are summarized into two broad categories – on PSS-wide concerns and on data generation, dissemination and utilization.

On PSS-Wide Concerns

Management and Coordination of the PSS

Further strengthen statistical planning and coordination in the area of monitoring and evaluation; strategic planning and policy formulation;
Advocate the best practices in statistics among the agencies, such as dissemination of Advance Release Calendars (ARC), metadata, and revision policy;
Need for higher budgetary resources and investments in statistics;
Rationalize and design more cost-effective censuses and surveys;
Need for more consultations with stakeholders and data users;
Further enhance awareness and appreciation for statistics as an integral component to national development planning and policy formulation;
Need for a statistics law as framework for government statistical operations; and
Greater cooperation and participation in the programs of international organizations.

Statistical Human Resource Management and Development

Need to set competency standards for statisticians;
Further develop technical knowledge/skills and managerial capability of statistical personnel;
Promote motivation and incentive schemes to retain professional statisticians in the government service;
Need for an integrated training agenda for the PSS; and
Need for continuing statistical capacity building of personnel in government agencies, both at the national and sub-national levels.

Statistical Research and Development

Strengthen the capability of agencies to undertake statistical research;
More relevant researches to improve statistical operations of government;
Enhance dissemination and utilization of statistical research outputs; and
Increase fund for statistical research.

On Data Generation, Dissemination and Utilization

Develop new and improve existing indicator systems with more disaggregation to respond to emerging concerns and address current socio-economic trends at the sub-national, national and international levels;
Need to strengthen the system of data generation and bridge data gaps at the provincial level
Need to standardize statistical concepts and definitions and develop new statistical methodologies;
Need to improve the quality of administrative-based data as an alternative source of official statistics in the PSS;
Need to strengthen monitoring and harmonization of statistical activities to reduce data duplication and response burden; and
Maximize use of ICT to support data retrieval/exchange, dissemination and provide greater access to users.

3. Statistical Development Programs, 2005-2010

The statistical development programs in each chapter of this document are designed to address issues and challenges towards improving the generation, dissemination and utilization of quality statistical information. The statistical development programs are categorized into four (4) areas of concern namely for 1) PSS-Wide Concerns; 2) Sub-National Statistical System; 3) Economic Sectors; and 4) Social Sectors. Detailed description of all statistical development programs and activities in the PSDP, its policy use/relevance, the expected outputs, and dates of implementation, and agencies concerned are found in each of the 25 chapters in the PSDP.

4. Future Activities

Advocacy

A presentation to the Senate and House of Representatives will be undertaken and copies of the document shall be provided along with the Presidential endorsement. A presentation to the DBCC and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) shall likewise be undertaken to solicit budgetary support, particularly under the MTPDP, for priority statistical programs of the PSS for the medium term. As part of the advocacy program to solicit support in the adoption and implementation of the PSDP, presentations will be made to major departments of the government and the LGUs. Presentation will likewise be made to select private sector groups and other stakeholders for information.

Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation

The implementation of PSDP activities will be annually monitored. Implementing agencies will be required to submit to the NSCB technical staff their annual accomplishment reports on statistical activities. The annual reports shall highlight the actual accomplishments of PSDP activities, the outputs produced vis-à-vis the annual targets. The report shall be consolidated and evaluated based on the goals and objectives of the PSDP 2005-2010.

The annual report of accomplishment shall be presented to the NSCB Executive Board and provided to all agencies concerned and uploaded in the NSCB website to promote transparency and accountability in government statistics generation and dissemination. A mid-term evaluation report will be prepared to assess the extent of accomplishment of the PSDP goals and to re-evaluate the relevance of the goals and programs with the prevailing conditions in the country as well as in the international community.

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¹ The Millennium Development Goals (MDG) is a set of time-bound and measurable goals and targets for combating poverty, hunger, diseases, illiteracy, environmental degradation and discrimination against women. It consists of 8 goals (Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; Achieve universal primary education; Promote gender equality and empower women; Reduce child mortality; Improve maternal health; Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; Ensure environmental sustainability; Develop global partnership for development), 18 targets and 48 indicators, covering the period 1990 to 2015.

The Philippine Statistical Development Program (PSDP)
Main Page
2005-2010 PSDP
Publication Information
1999-2004 PSDP
The Philippine Statistical System (PSS) PSDP Monitoring Report Form 1


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