National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB)

www.nscb.gov.ph

The NSCB, National Statistics Office (NSO) and Statistical Research and Training Center (SRTC) are under the administrative supervision of the National Economic and Development Authority. On the other hand, the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) and Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES), which are also considered as major statistical agencies, report to the respective heads of their departments.

A decentralized system - policy-making body, data producers, users, research and training institutions, and data providers

The PSS is the government-wide system of providing statistical information and services to the public.

The present system as defined in Executive Order No. 121 dated October 1, 1987 consists of the statistical organizations at all administrative levels, the personnel therein and the national statistical program.

These organizations include a policy-making and coordinating body, a statistical research and training center, a single general purpose statistical agency, and all the departments, bureaus, offices, agencies and instrumentalities of the national and local government and government-owned or controlled corporations and their subsidiaries that are engaged in statistical activities either as their primary functions or part of their administrative or regulatory functions. Each institution has its own role and responsibility in the System.

The NSO has its regional, provincial and municipal offices.

The statistical agencies and other data producing agencies have their respective annual work programmes which are discussed during their planning workshops or corporate planning sessions. As part of the annual budgeting exercise, agencies are also required to formulate their calendar of work during the following year and the next three years. Performance indicators are identified and included in the budget forms to support proposed financial requirements. As part of its function to review and endorse budget proposals for statistical activities, the NSCB issues thrusts for the short and medium-term to guide agencies in the identification of their improvement and other developmental activities. A few years back, the NSO and the BAS formulated their corporate medium-term strategic plans. The Statistical Reseach and Training Center, the research and training arm of the PSS, has a research and training agenda which is updated annually and disseminated to its clients and stakeholders.

For the whole Philippine Statistical System (PSS), the medium-term Philippine Statistical Development Program, serves as the blueprint for statistical development in the country. The implementation of several mechanisms and policies issued by the Board require preparation of work/action plans by concerned member agencies of the PSS.

Producer data, research, train institutions, and provide statistical information and services to the public.

Executive Order (EO) No. 121, issued on January 30, 1987, provided for the reorganization of the Philippine Statistical System (PSS) and For Other Purposes. It also maintained the decentralized PSS as well as defined its composition. The EO further created the NSCB as the highest policy making and coordinating body on statistics in the country. It also renamed the then National Census and Statistics Office to National Statistics Office as the major statistical agency responsible for generating general purpose statistics and undertaking such censuses and surveys as may be designated by the NSCB. It also created the Statistical Research and Training Center as the research and training arm of the PSS.

The NSO is operating on the basis of Commonwealth Act No. 591 which serves as the mandate for the conduct of censuses and surveys and other data gathering activities, confidentiality of data, and penalty clause for non-responding samples, among others. In addition, the census of population is mandated by a law (Batas Pambansa Blg. 72) to be conducted every ten years beginning in 1980.

The organic law of the other major statistical agencies, i.e., BAS and BLES, is through Executive Orders.

In addition to Commonwealth Act 591, Batas Pambansa Blg. 72 and EOs, there are a number of legislations issued, primarily through EOs, concerning statistical operations in the country. There are also other laws issued which affect statistical activities such as the designation of the BAS as the administrator of the National Information Network as stipulated under the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act. The Local Government Code also devolved statistical services to local government units.

Major agencies of the decentralized Philippine Statistical System (PSS) are:

1. the NSCB, the policy making and coordinating body;

2. the National Statistics Office (NSO), which is in charge of censuses and major surveys and administrative-based systems that generate general-purpose statistics;

3. the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) under the Department of Agriculture, which handles agricultural and fishery statistics;

4. the Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES) under the Department of Labor and Employment, which is incharge of labor and employment statistics;

5. the Statistical Research and Training Center, the training and research arm of the PSS.

In addition, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Central Bank of the Philippines) and the Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology produce statistics. Finally, there are also more than a hundred other producers of data as a result of their regulatory and administrative functions.

The NSCB (Executive Board) and the Statistical Advisory Council.

The NSCB was created through Executive Order (EO) No. 121, Reorganizing and Strengthening the Philippine Statistical System and For Other Purposes, on January 30, 1987 as the highest policy-making and coordinating body on sttistical matters in the country.

Specifically, the NSCB (the Executive Board) provides direction in terms of statistical programs and policies and approves new methodologies and concepts. The Board is chaired by the Secretary of Socio-Economic Planning and co-chaired by the Undersecretary of the Department of Budget and Management. The members consist of the heads of major statistical agencies, undersecretaries of the different government agencies and a representative from the private sector and local government unit. The Board meets every quarter and in cases when there is an immediate need to consult the Board, a referendum among the members is conducted.

The Statistical Advisory Council was created in 2002 by the NSCB as an independent body to give expert and relevant advice to the PSS that will provide additional safeguards on the quality and integrity of Philippine statistics and to boost statistical advocacy among the public in general and among users in the different sectors/institutions represented. The Council is composed of eminent professionals, academicians, practitioners, and other stakeholders selected based on individual or professional stature/standing in relevant secors/institutions that constitute the user base of statistics. Todate, the council has met once and holds meetings as necessary.

1 August 2007

These administrative data include the manifests for imports/exports data; building permits data and the data requirements for the national accounts, employee termination reports, financial statements, among others.

Commonwealth Act No. 591, 'An Act Creating a Bureau of the Census and Statistics, to Consolidate Statistical Activities of the Government Therein,' provides for the confidentiality of the data gathered from the individual respondents. The data shall not be used as evidence in any court or any public office, shall not be divulged to any person or shall not be published, except in the form of summaries or statistical tables in which no reference to an individual will be made.

Batas Pambansa Blg. 72, issued on June 11, 1980, Providing for the Taking of an Integrated Census Every Ten Years Beginning in the Year 1980 and for Other Purposes, provides that data gathered shall not be used as evidence in any court or public office for or against any person, except in a criminal case, nor shall such data be divulged to any person nor published except in the form of summaries or statistical tables in which case no reference to an individual shall appear.

A confidentiality clause is stated in the survey questionnaires. This is reiterated in the Field Operations Manual and emphasized during survey training. It is likewise one of the stipulations in the contracts of the field personnel. As such, its violation is a ground for pre-termination of the employment contract of data collectors.

Publications and survey results are released in accordance with the Advance Release Calendars (ARCs), the use of which has been institutionalized in the PSS.

Under Executive Order No. 352, which provided for the System of Designated Statistics, there are target dates of release of results being followed. This requires a press release and/or special release by the designated agencies which includes analysis of survey results. These are posted on the agency website.

The PSS has adopted the policy requiring the dissemination of Advance Release Calendar of agency statistical activities. These are now available through the agency and PSS websites and are updated regularly. Recently, the NSCB posted in its website the statistical calendar of government agencies which includes information on the activity undertaken, objectives, frequency, outputs, schedule of release, and form of dissemination.

Executive Order No. 352, which provides for the System of Designated Statistics, requires the agencies to disseminate the advance calendar for the next quarter.

The agency Statistical Calendars, which are now available at the NSCB website, shows the current and programmed work of agencies relating to data generation, data dissemination and institution building. These calendars can be downloaded thru the NSCB website (http://www.nscb.gov.ph/pss/statcalendar/).

The Catalogue of Philippine Statistical Publications (available on the NSCB website) contains a brief description of each publication title showing the frequency and schedule of availability of the publication, main uses, data contents, time span of data contents, geographic areas covered, approximate number of pages and the name, postal address, telephone number and website of the publishing unit/agency. Collectively, the PSS produces hundreds of publications.

English

All possible formats

Public use files which contain individual records but with no reference to the identity of the individuals are available for some of the major surveys. Public use files can be requested from the NSO in writing for a fee. Also, the NSO executes a special memorandum of agreement with requesting parties. Employees of the other agency are issued deputation orders by the NSO under the terms and conditions of confidentiality.