NSCB Resolution No. 3
Series of 2008

APPROVING THE BUDGETARY THRUSTS
OF THE PHILIPPINE STATISTICAL SYSTEM FOR CY 2009

WHEREAS, the overall mission of the Philippine Statistical System (PSS) is to provide adequate, relevant, reliable, timely and accessible statistical information and services to the public;  

WHEREAS, there is a need to undertake continuing improvements for the PSS to deliver more quality statistical products and services;  

WHEREAS, there is a need to define a common framework and direction for the PSS in order to attain its goals and objectives; 

WHEREAS, the President issued Proclamation No. 1140 Adopting the Philippine Statistical Development Program (PSDP) 2005-2010; 

WHEREAS, the Proclamation enjoins all agencies in the government to fully implement the statistical programs and activities in accordance with the three-year budgeting cycle; 

WHEREAS, the Proclamation likewise instructs the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to include a budgetary provision for the PSS in the annual appropriations based on the budgetary requirements of the PSDP in support of its implementation and monitoring;  

WHEREAS, the DBM will issue a National Budget Memorandum in May 2008 reiterating the annual requirement that budget proposals for CY 2009 for the conduct of designated statistical activities pursuant to EO 352 shall require the endorsement of the NSCB;  

WHEREAS, the PSS recognizes the importance of ensuring a linkage between planning and budgeting and as such, there is a need to define the budgetary thrusts for the PSS for CY 2009;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED AS IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED that the Board approve the following budgetary thrusts by key result area (KRA) of the PSS for CY 2009:

KRA 1. Effective statistical policies and coordination mechanisms to address the statistical development challenges in the PSS

•  Formulation and effective monitoring of statistical policies for:

  1. Ensuring the quality of statistics, with special focus on timeliness;

  2. Establishing new and strengthening existing statistical units in the government that will undertake the generation and dissemination of reliable and useful statistical information for public use;

  3. Rationalizing the conduct of statistical surveys;

  4. Standardizing concepts and methodologies used in statistical operations, including classification and coding; and    

  5. Extensive data sharing among government agencies.

  6. Supporting the development of a national ID system.

• Strengthening of coordination mechanisms at the subnational level thru:

  1. Creation of Provincial Statistical Coordination Committees in more provinces;

  2. Designation of statistics at the subnational level.

KRA 2.  Relevant and good quality socio-economic, environmental and other statistics and indicators that address the information demands of data users and stakeholders for planning of development programs and for decision-making and effective governance at the subnational, national and international levels

•  Generation of relevant statistics and information on:

  1. critical and emerging concerns such as on tourism and infrastructure, ICT, logistics services, health and education, hunger, governance, provincial product accounts, environment, children, and gender;

  2. sectors / areas of concern that affect and impact on the country’s socio-economic development, including those relevant in tracking achievement of MDG targets and other international commitments;

• More intensive planning for the conduct of the 2010 Census of Population and Housing;

• Migration to the 1993 System of National Accounts;

• Development of innovative approaches to generate statistics at the provincial, city and municipal levels as collaborative effort between the national and local governments, e.g., through cost-sharing, integrated data collection efforts among different agencies/sectors.

KRA 3.  Improved availability and communication of statistics in the PSS thru stronger adoption of the Government Statistics Accessibility Program (GSAP), and maximized use of information technology in data collection, processing, analysis, communication, utilization and archiving

• Promotion of data-sharing of administrative-based and survey-based information within the bureaucracy;

• More intensive programs to “popularize” statistics for better appreciation and utilization;

• Improvement of skills in communicating statistics to facilitate discovery of information, accessibility and understanding;

• Promotion of the adoption of the concepts of public good among government agencies as well as the Pricing Policy of the PSS;

• Effective use of ICT/ Acceleration of technological development in the area of communicating statistics and data management;

• Rationalization of ICT resources;

• Exploring the feasibility of establishing a national data warehouse.

KRA 4.  Enhanced capacity development within the PSS, including improvement in the quality of human statistical manpower, to generate and communicate quality official statistics

•  More vigorous implementation of the Scientific Career System for Statisticians;

• Provision of more training opportunities for those involved in statistics, including participation in local and international fora;

• Capacitating data users for better awareness, appreciation and utilization of statistics.

KRA 5.  Maximized use and improved quality of administrative reports as official source of statistical data and information in the PSS

• Implementation of the Administrative Records Review and Clearance System;

• Promotion of intra-departmental statistical coordination, including that between the central office and the local offices;

• Improvement of quality of admin-based statistics in terms of coverage and timeliness. 

KRA 6.  Improved 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

• 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, and to produce statistics consistent with international benchmarks;

• Use of researches and best practices from institutions and individuals in the local and international fronts.

BE IT RESOLVED FURTHER, that all PSS member agencies be enjoined to: a) consider the relevant thrusts in their respective Organizational Performance Indicators Framework (OPIF);  and  b) incorporate in their agency budget proposals for CY 2009 the requirements to achieve the above thrusts based on the statistical programs/ projects/activities identified in the PSDP following the guidelines to be issued by the NSCB, and to submit these to the NSCB. The NSCB Technical Staff shall evaluate the budget proposals and, in consultation with the agencies concerned, submit its recommendations to the NSCB Executive Board.  Subsequently, the PSS budget will be endorsed to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), copy furnished the agencies.

            Approved this 13th day of February 2008, in Pasig City.

Attested by:

ROMULO A. VIROLA
Secretary General