Special Committee to Review the Philippine Statistical System
REVISED PLAN OF ACTION
The Philippine Statistical System (PSS) is described as the government-wide scheme for providing statistical information and services to the public through a decentralized structure involving various data stakeholders. The PSS is comprised of a statistical organizational structure and a national statistical program. The statistical organizational structure is made up of a policymaking and coordinating body [National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB)]; data producers [National Statistics Office (NSO), Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS), Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES), and other government agencies, local government units and instrumentalities involved in crunching out data]; data providers who respond to survey instruments and the like [individuals, households, business establishments, government and non government organizations]; and, statistical training, education and research institutions [Statistical Research and Training Center (SRTC) and the academe]. Such a structure entails strong coordination in terms of statistical content, standards, classification, budget, and prioritization towards the production of statistics (censuses, surveys, administrative data systems, derived data systems, and statistical indicators) as well as metadata to help users to better utilize the data being made available. Utilization of the statistical products also entails wide dissemination through various forms and channels.
Established by virtue of an Executive Order issued in 1987, the present PSS is due for an extensive review in order to realize the vision of having a System that has independence, objectivity, integrity, relevance, and responsiveness. Moreover, numerous issues have arisen in the past years that directly affect the quality, reliability and timeliness of the statistical products coming out from the PSS. The official data issued by the PSS impact on the policies and programs that are formulated to address the social and economic development goals of the country warranting the need to revisit the PSS in its entirety for updating purposes, rationalization and for dealing with the issues and concerns involved. This general goal led to the creation of a Special Committee to Review the Philippine Statistical System.
The Committee
A five-person Committee will be created to undertake the strategic review for the statistical system. Said Committee will be composed of respected statisticians and eminent persons who are very knowledgeable and familiar with the situation prevailing in the system. To uphold objectivity in this endeavour, members of the Committee would not be drawn from those directly involved in the PSS, such as the major statistical agencies. They are, however enjoined to serve as principal resource persons to the Committee when the need arises. This does not preclude the statistical agencies’ submission of inputs or position papers that they perceive to be useful in the Committee’s deliberations and decision making. The Committee would conduct assessments and interviews, consultations and workshops as maybe needed in order to obtain information necessary to come up with its findings and recommendations. It is expected to complete its task within seven (7) months. For purposes of transparency, the outcome of the PSS review, i.e., findings and recommendations including the instruments used in the assessments will be made available to the public or be uploaded in the websites of major statistical agencies and related institutions.
Objectives
Specifically, the Special Committee is tasked with the conduct of a review and evaluation of the following:
· Current set-up of the PSS in planning, coordinating and managing statistical activities;
· Adequacy of the legal framework governing the operations of the statistical system;
· Integrity and completeness of the national statistical program, i.e. statistical products being produced by the five major statistical agencies, particularly looking at technical soundness, timeliness and responsiveness;
· Mechanisms to facilitate access of users of statistical outputs to the data and other materials generated by the system;
· Methods for archiving data being generated; and,
· International best practices on statistical systems that could possibly be adopted in the Philippines.
The resulting output should lead to the provision of recommendations on:
· Proposed set up of the PSS;
· Proposed measures to improve the quality, timeliness, responsiveness and completeness of the national statistical program; in particular, data on poverty, the national income accounts, employment, industry data, and regional and local data;
· Proposed measures to further facilitate and expedite access of various users to statistical outputs and related materials;
· Proposals to improve data archiving capability in the government;
· Proposed international best practices on statistical systems that should be adopted in the Philippines; looking at experiences in Asia in particular;
· Proposed legislative bill for the proposed set up of the PSS and important measures to be made part of it to improve the capability of the PSS to respond to the needs of its clients; and,
· Proposed timetable to implement the Committee’s recommendations.
Financial Support
In order to realize the objectives of this undertaking, a number of agencies have expressed support in terms of providing financial assistance and in-kind contributions namely, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), and the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).
Implementation Arrangements
A Secretariat will be created to provide technical and administrative assistance to the Committee. The seven-member Secretariat will be drawn from PIDS, BSP, and from the technical staffs of the five major statistical agencies namely, NSCB, SRTC, NSO, BAS, and BLES. It is expected that these technical staffs will be detailed on a full time basis to undertake the work of the Secretariat. Moreover, the staffs that will be assigned must have adequate and extensive knowledge and experience on statistical work and must be at the mid to senior level in their respective organizations. A Chairperson will be elected from among the members.
PIDS, created as a government research institution in 1977, is tasked to provide rigorous analysis of policy issues for plan and policy formulation. It is also mandated to serve as common link between the government and existing research institutions and establish a repository for economic research information and other related activities. Its designation as base of the Committee Secretariat stems from its position as an “outsider” in the statistical field and would therefore provide a more objective contribution in this review effort. Further, PIDS as research institute that utilizes the statistical products from the PSS would provide a stronger user orientation or perspective in the assessment.
Technically, the Committee Secretariat would provide inputs in this evaluation by drawing from the pool of experts in the statistical agencies involved in the PSS as well as from the other stakeholders of the system. In addition, special studies will be commissioned by the Committee through the Secretariat to further lend substance to its work.
Since the Secretariat will be based at PIDS, it was deemed expedient for said institution to assume the task of managing the funds of the Committee according to the approved budget, engage consultants for the conduct of special studies, set-up meetings of the Committee, and organize the workshops and consultative meetings. Meanwhile, PIDS has committed to provide funding for the conduct of special studies that may be identified by the Committee. It would also set aside in-kind contributions for the logistical requirements of the Secretariat. The BSP, aside from extending financial assistance, offers its regional facilities and networks to the Committee particularly during the conduct of consultations and workshops.
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