chapter 6 development of the subnational statistical system - NSCB

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Philippine Statistical Development Program, 2005-2010- Philippine Countryside in Figures, an annual publication that monitors the relativedevelopment in all the provinces in the country based on their rankings in keyprovincial social and economic indicators;- Provincial Countryside in Figures which monitors the relative development of themunicipalities in the province. This provides municipal breakdown of economic andsocial statistics available in the province;2.2 ISSUES AND CHALLENGESThere are a number of challenges that beset the development of the subnational statistical system.Insufficient coordinating structure at the subnational levelThe NSCB is empowered to establish mechanisms for statistical coordination at the regional, provincialand city levels. At present, however, it only has regional units/desk thereby limiting its ability to fullyexercise its functions at these levels. Moreover, the NSCB has no presence in Region II, III, VII, Caragaand ARMM. Some of the urgent tasks of the proposed units in these remaining regions are: (a) developstatistical data framework; (b) assess local statistical data and their generation based on the framework;(c) creation of new Regional Statistical Coordination Committees (RSCCs) and strengthen existing onesto resolve statistical issues which can be addressed at that level and provide technical and secretariatservices to the RSCCs; (d) formulate a regional statistical development program; and (e) providerelevant statistical support for regional development efforts.Lack of awareness and appreciation of the significance for statistics at the local levelThe insufficient/ lack of funds for statistical-related activities at the subnational level is aggravated bythe low statistical appreciation among the local government executives. As in the national level, theappreciation by local administrators and executives of the importance of statistics has been foundwanting. As a result, support of statistical activities and efforts to develop/improve the SSS have beeninadequate.There is a need to improve the quality, disaggregation and accessibility of local statisticsThe quality of statistics, i.e. population estimates, vital statistics, building permits, among others, beingproduced by the subnational statistical system (SSS) has been constantly questioned by data users.Inaccurate statistics as well as the duplication of activities resulting in conflicting or inconsistent datahave raised doubts among the users.Timely release of data has remained a problem since agency regional offices doing data collection workhave not been fully granted authority by their respective central offices to process/disseminate data attheir level. Majority of data producers continue to do data processing at their central office. In mostcases, regional offices and LGUS do not have the expertise and resources to perform processing,analysis and dissemination. The inconsistency of some statistical data could be traced to the generationof the same data item from surveys and administrative reports whose results are different.Need to establish or localize statistical frameworks in the provinces to strengthen the system of datageneration and address existing data gapsWhile several frameworks on various subject matter had been developed before and after the devolutionthrough special studies, projects and researches, not one single framework had been adopted orinstitutionalized in all the provinces in the country. This is due to several factors, e.g. budgetaryconstraints, lack of manpower, technology, infrastructure, weak dissemination and coordination, oneshot conduct of statistical activities and lack of convergence mechanisms. Fragmented and incoherentLGU based statistical initiatives by the academe and regional agencies (statistical and non-statisticalagencies) imposes monetary and non-monetary cost for LGUs and the national government. Hence,there is a need to implement an integrated statistical development program to address these problemsat the subnational level.Another major concern is the scarcity of small-area statistics or unavailability of provincial, city,municipal data which has been raised in various fora on subnational statistics. For instance, there is lackof early warning system of indicators which can be monitored at the city/municipal level to anticipate6-10 Development of the Subnational Statistical System
Philippine Statistical Development Program, 2005-2010emergency situation I.e. food shortages due to bombing of utilities, (e.g. airport and bus terminal) andother peace and order problems.In some areas, only benchmark data from old censuses or special surveys are available. Likewise,problems on aggregation and data sharing among provincial, city and municipal LGUs due to lack ofstandardized data base at the LGU level and lack of IT related skills also hamper the generation ofnecessary information at the local level. Data from administrative records are not yet fully exploited dueto lack of manpower resources and IT equipment to be used for processing. Statistics on agriculture,fisheries, forestry and solid waste management are not available at the city/municipal level. Other datagaps identified at the local level deal with priority concerns such as income, housing, finance,investment, wages and compensation. Data processing and dissemination of some sectoral and vitalstatistics remain centralized. These deficiencies underscore the need for further advocacy todecentralize the processing and dissemination of data at the local levels together with thestandardization of data collection and compilation of local statistics among LGUs to reduce the time lagof release and make these information accessible to local planners.Data gaps in the generation of the regional and provincial accountsRegional accounts are still being compiled by the NSCB through its Economic Statistics Office (ESO)with assistance from the NSCB regional divisions which are present only in ten regions of the country.Since these accounts are designed to measure the economic performance of the region, the clamor forthese accounts to be compiled at the regional level increased and points to the need to transfer theestimation to the NSCB regional divisions. This merits further study considering the absence of anNSCB regional unit in the seven remaining regions which would meet the needs of the regional incomeaccounts and other existing data gaps at the regional and subregional levels.With the devolution of powers and functions to the local government units, the regions are no longerpolitical nor administrative units. Thus, local planning and programming of funds now rest on theprovincial and municipal government units. In view of these developments, the clamor for thegeneration of the provincial accounts had increased.Inadequate financial resourcesThe inadequacy of resources for undertaking statistical activities, such as data collection/improvement,statistical R & D, institution building/enhancement and statistical manpower development, is more felt atthe subnational level. Considering the expected increase in development activities in the regions due todecentralization, financial resources being channeled to the regions need to be augmented to enablethe SSS to provide the required information support to the planning, programming and budgetingfunctions of the local executives. Weak IT capabilities due to lack/unavailability of hardware andsoftware for data processing, storage and dissemination.Inadequate statistical manpower complement and the need for career system and manpowerdevelopment programDecentralization entails greater involvement of regional/local statistical personnel in the collection,processing and dissemination of data for planning, policy-formulation and decision-making. However,due to the low compensation scheme, professional statisticians have been deterred from pursuing theircareer in the government particularly in the regions. This problem has contributed greatly to a fastturnover rate among regional statistical workers. As a result, non-statisticians do statistical work in someagencies in the region and at the local level. Thus, the subnational statistical system has long been inneed of adequate and continuous supply of statistical manpower.In view of these developments, it is important to undertake special programs for the development andacquisition as well as retention of the needed skills at the local level. It is also necessary to continuouslyupgrade the quality of existing statistical manpower at the subnational level. This situation calls for thesetting-up of a career system for statisticians in government and the formulation and implementation ofa responsive and comprehensive statistical manpower development program.III. STATISTICAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM, 2005-2010For the Plan period 2005-2010, local statistical development efforts will be geared towards measuringthe implementation of the Medium Term Development Plan 2005 to 2010, the Ten Point Agenda at theDevelopment of the Subnational Statistical System 6-11
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