Skip to main content

Executive Order No. 352

WHEREAS, Executive Order No. 121, which was issued in January 1987, created the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) as the policy-making and coordinating body of the decentralized Philippine Statistical System;

WHEREAS, the NSCB, now an agency attached to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), has established a system of designated statistics in accordance with its mandate, that enables the identification and generation of the most critical and essential statistics required for social and economic planning/analysis based on approved criteria;

WHEREAS, the generation of said data requires the conduct of nationwide censuses and surveys and the maintenance/processing of administrative-based records on a regular basis to allow for monitoring, time series analysis and forecasting by policy-makers;

WHEREAS, the quality of these designated statistics needs to be continuously improved to address the needs of data users;

WHEREAS, the system of designated statistics is a dynamic process that allows for updating to keep attuned to the emerging demands of data users;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FIDEL V. RAMOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby order:

SECTION 1. The activities and statistics that have been designated by the NSCB as per ANNEX of this Executive Order shall be adopted by the government as the means of generating the critical and essential data for administrators, planners and policy-makers in the government and private sectors.

SECTION 2. The implementing agencies shall provide the Office of the President thru the NSCB results of said censuses, surveys and administrative-based reports on a regular basis and ensure the dissemination of the data to the general public in accordance with the designated time frame.

SECTION 3. The implementing agencies shall be responsible in carrying out the improvements in the design and methodology of said activities in coordination with the NSCB.

SECTION 4. Any modification, addition or deletion from the above list shall be approved through a Board Resolution by the NSCB in accordance with its implementing guidelines. The NSCB is authorized to issue implementing guidelines consistent with the provisions of this Executive Order. It shall also be responsible in monitoring the system's implementation to attain the objectives of this Executive Order.

SECTION 5. The NSCB shall regularly conduct adequate consultations with the data users and producers as a means of updating the lists of designated statistics to be responsive to the emerging needs of data users.

SECTION 6. The amounts necessary to carry out the provisions of this Executive Order shall be provided for in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) in the year following its approval and thereafter. However, any immediate requirement to implement this Executive Order shall be taken from any available appropriations in the CY l994 GAA, subject to the usual budgetary rules and regulations.

SECTION 7. This Executive Order shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 1st day of July in the year of our Lord, nineteen hundred and ninety six.

 

(Signed)
FIDEL V. RAMOS
President of the Philippines

Executive Order No. 121

RECALLING that the reorganization of the government is mandated expressly in Article II, Section 1 (1), and Article III of the Freedom Constitution;

HAVING IN MIND that, pursuant to Executive Order No. 5 (1986), there is a need to effect the necessary and proper changes in the organizational and functional structures of the government, its agencies and instrumentalities, in order to promote efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of public services;

BELIEVING that the present Philippine Statistical System is too decentralized, being characterized by a single general-purpose statistical agency, a number of agencies in the production of specialized statistics and other instrumentalities involved in statistical activities either as their primary functions or as part of their administrative or regulatory functions;

REALIZING that the absence of a strong coordinating mechanism has given rise to the problems of duplication of activities, conflicting statistics, data gaps as well as unnecessary burden on respondents;

CONSIDERING that the government needs to rationalize the allocation of resources for the collection of statistics;

TAKING NOTE that the quality of statistical services is affected by the limited number of qualified statistical workers;

CONVINCED that there is a need to maintain a decentralized system characterized by independence, objectivity and integrity to make it more responsive to the requirements of national development;

CONVINCED further that there is also a need for a stronger mechanism to coordinate the decentralized government statistical service in order to promote the orderly development of a system capable of providing timely, accurate and useful data for the government and the public, especially for planning and decision-making;

AFFIRMING that there is a need to ensure the development and maintenance of high-level statistical manpower in the government;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, CORAZON C. AQUINO, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the sovereign will of the Filipino People and the Freedom Constitution, do hereby order:

SEC. 1. Title. This Executive Order shall otherwise be known as the Reorganization Act of the Philippine Statistical System.

SEC. 2. Reorganization. The Philippine Statistical System, hereinafter referred to as PSS, is hereby reorganized, structurally and functionally, in accordance with the provisions of this Executive Order.

SEC. 3. Philippine Statistical System. The PSS shall consist of statistical organizations at all administrative levels, the personnel therein and the national statistical program. This includes a policy-making and coordinating body, a statistical research and training center, a single general-purpose statistical agency, all ministries, bureaus, offices, agencies and instrumentalities of the national and local government and all government-owned or controlled corporations and their subsidiaries that are engaged in statistical activities either as their primary functions or as part of their administrative or regulatory functions. The PSS shall remain decentralized with a strong coordination feature to be achieved through closer linkage between statistical programming and budgetting.

SEC. 4. National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB). There is hereby created National Statistical Coordination Board, hereinafter referred to as NSCB, which shall be the highest policy-making and coordinating body on statistical matters. The NSCB shall be composed of the following: the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Director-General or his/her designated representative as Chairman; the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Budget and Management (MBM), as Vice-Chairman; one representative each from the remaining Ministries with the rank of Deputy Minister; the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank; the Administrator of the National Statistics Office; the Secretary General of the NSCB; the Director of the Statistical Research and Training Center; the Governor or City Mayor nominated by the League of Governors and City Mayors; and a member from the private sector to be elected by other members of the Board who shall sit in the Board for a period of three years, as members.

The decisions of the NSCB on statistical matters shall be final and executory.

SEC. 5 Powers and Functions. The NSCB shall have the following powers and functions:

1. Promote and maintain an efficient statistical system in the government;

2. Formulate policies on all matters relating to government statistical operations;

3. Recommend executive and legislative measures to enhance the development and efficiency of the system, including the internal structure of statistical agencies;

4. Establish appropriate mechanism for statistical coordination at the regional, provincial and city levels;

5. Approve the Philippine Statistical Development Program;

6. Allocate statistical responsibilities among government agencies by designating the statistics to be collected by them, including their periodicity and content;

7. Review budgetary proposals involving statistical operations and submit an integrated budget for the PSS to the MBM;

8. Review and clear, prior to release, all funds for statistical operations;

9. Develop, prescribe, and maintain appropriate framework for the improvement of statistical coordination;

10. Prescribe uniform standards and classification systems in government statistics;

The NSCB shall not engage directly in any basic data collection activity.

SEC. 6. NSCB Technical Staff. The NSCB shall have a Technical Staff which shall perform the following functions:

1. Provide technical and secretarial support to the NSCB;

2. Serve as the statistical clearing house and liaison for international statistical matters;

3. Perform other functions as may be assigned by the NSCB and as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Executive Order.

SEC. 7. Secretary General. The NSCB Technical Staff shall be headed by a Secretary General with the rank of Deputy Minister, who shall be appointed by the President, and is of proven competence and recognized stature in the statistical profession.

SEC. 8. Inter-Agency Committee on Statistics. The NSCB may create inter-agency committees (IAC) to assist it in the exercise of its functions.

SEC. 9. The National Statistics Office. The National Census and Statistics Office is hereby renamed the National Statistics Office (NSO). It shall be the major statistical agency responsible for generating general purpose statistics and undertaking such censuses and surveys as may be designated by the NSCB.

The NSO shall be headed by an Administrator with the rank of Deputy Minister, who shall be appointed by the President, and is of recognized stature and proven competence in the field of statistics.

SEC. 10. The Statistical Research and Training Center. There is hereby created a Statistical Research and Training Center, hereinafter referred to as SRTC, which shall have the following functions:

1. Develop a comprehensive and integrated research and training program on the theories, concepts and methodologies for the promotion of the statistical system;

2. Undertake research on statistical concepts, definitions and methods;

3. Promote collaborative research efforts among members of the academic community, data producers and users;

4. Conduct non-degree training programs to upgrade the quality of statistical personnel and expand the statistical manpower base in support of the needs of the statistical system;

5. Provide financial and other forms of assistance to enhance statistical research and development.

SEC. 11. SRTC Governing Board. The SRTC shall have a Governing Board that shall formulate policies for its management and operations. The Secretary General of the NSCB shall be the Chairman of the SRTC Governing Board, with the following as members: Administrator of the National Statistics Office; Director of the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics; Dean of the University of the Philippines Statistical Center; Executive Director of the Philippine Social Science Council; a representative of the NEDA and the Director of the SRTC as ex-officio member.

SEC. 12. SRTC Executive Director. The SRTC shall have an Executive Director who shall be appointed by the SRTC Governing Board. He shall receive such salary and remuneration as may be determined by the SRTC Governing Board.

SEC. 13. SRTC Endowment Fund. There is hereby established an SRTC Endowment Fund which shall consist of contributions, donations, bequests, grants and loans from domestic and/or foreign sources, government appropriations and other incomes accruing from the operations of SRTC, which Fund is to finance the carrying out of Subsection (a) to (e) of the preceding Section 10. There is hereby appropriated out of any fund in the National Treasury or other sources not otherwise appropriated the sum of SEVEN MILLION PESOS (P7,000,000.00) as the initial contribution of the government to the Endowment Fund.

SEC. 14. SRTC Initial Operating Fund. There is hereby appropriated and programmed for immediate release out of any unappropriated balances in the National Treasury or other sources the amount of THREE MILLION PESOS (P3,000,000.00) as the initial operating fund of the SRTC.

SEC. 15. Other Statistical Agencies. Unless otherwise provided for in this Executive Order or modified by the NSCB pursuant to its herein authority, all offices, agencies and instrumentalities of the government including government-owned or controlled corporations and their subsidiaries engaged in the production of specialized statistics or otherwise involved in statistical activities either as their primary function or as part of their administrative or regulatory functions, shall continue to discharge such statistical functions in accordance with the provisions of existing laws, rules and regulations.

SEC. 16. Designated Statistics. The NSCB shall designate statistics that should be collected, compiled, processed and disseminated by agencies in accordance with the statistical calendar approved by the NSCB. It shall promulgate and implement the rules and regulations concerning designated statistics and shall periodically review the list of designated statistics as may be required appropriate.

SEC. 17. Access to Data of Government Agencies. Subject to existing laws, rules and regulations on confidentiality of information, any individual, institution or instrumentality shall be given access to unpublished data, provided that the cost incurred is assumed by the requesting party, in accordance with existing laws, rules and regulations.

SEC. 18. Timely Release of Statistics. Agencies conducting statistical inquiries shall be responsible for ensuring the timely release of the results thereof to the general public, in compliance with the statistical calendar approved by the NSCB.

SEC. 19. Statistical Standards. All government agencies shall adopt statistical standards prescribed by the NSCB, including standard concepts and definitions, techniques, procedures and classification systems.

SEC. 20. Funds Programming. The NSCB shall be responsible for the review and prioritization of statistical activities in coordination with appropriate government agencies, given the budgetary ceiling provided by the MBM. The NSCB will also be responsible for determining how the available financial resources will be allocated among the prioritized activities. The MBM shall release the funds in accordance with the priorities set by the NSCB.

SEC. 21. Abolition of Existing Government Bodies. The committee on statistical development created under Letter of Instructions No. 601, the Statistical Advisory Board created under Part VI, Chapter II, Article II of the 1972 Integrated Reorganization Plan, and the Statistical Coordination Office of the National Economic and Development Authority are hereby abolished and their appropriations, records and properties, if any, and such personnel as may be necessary shall be transferred to the NSCB.

SEC. 22. Transitory Provisions. In accomplishing the acts of reorganization herein prescribed, the following transitory provisions shall be complied with, unless otherwise provided elsewhere in this Executive Order:

(a) The transfer of a government unit shall include the functions, appropriations, funds, records, equipment, facilities, choses in action, rights, other assets, and liabilities, if any, of the transferred unit as well as the personnel thereof, as may be necessary, who shall, in a hold-over capacity, continue to perform their respective duties and responsibilities and receive the corresponding salaries and benefits unless in the meantime they are separated from government service pursuant to Executive Order No. 17 (1986) or Article III of the Freedom Constitution. Those personnel of the transferred unit whose positions are not included in the Philippine Statistical System's new position structure and staffing pattern approved and prescribed by the NSCB Chairman or who are not reappointed shall be deemed separated from the service and shall be entitled to the benefits provided in the second paragraph of Section 23 hereof.

(b) The transfer of functions which results in the abolition of the government unit that has exercised them shall include the appropriations, funds, records, equipment, facilities, choses in action, rights, other assets and personnel as may be necessary to the proper discharge of the transferred functions. The abolished unit's remaining appropriations and funds, if any, shall revert to the General Fund and its remaining assets, if any, shall be allocated to such appropriate units as the Minister shall determine or shall otherwise be disposed in accordance with the Government Auditing Code and other pertinent laws, rules and regulations. Its personnel shall, in a hold-over capacity, continue to perform their duties and responsibilities and receive the corresponding salaries and benefits unless in the meantime they are separated from the service pursuant to Executive Order No. 17 (1986) or Article III of the Freedom Constitution. Its personnel, whose positions are not included in the Philippine Statistical System's new position structure and staffing pattern approved and prescribed by the NSCB Chairman under Section 23 hereof or who are not reappointed, shall be deemed separated from the service and shall be entitled to the benefits provided in the second paragraph of the same Section 23.

(c) The transfer of functions which does not result in the abolition of the government unit that has exercised them shall include the appropriations, funds, records, equipment, facilities, choses in action, rights, other assets and personnel as may be necessary to the proper discharge of the transferred functions. The liabilities, if any, that may have been incurred in connection with the discharge of the transferred functions, shall be treated in accordance with the Government Auditing Code and other pertinent laws, rules and regulations. Such personnel shall, in a hold-over capacity, continue to perform their respective duties and responsibilities and receive the corresponding salaries and benefits unless in the meantime they are separated from the service pursuant to Executive Order No. 17 (1986) or Article III of the Freedom Constitution. Any personnel, whose position, is not included in the Philippine Statistical System's new position structure and staffing pattern approved and prescribed by the NSCB Chairman under Section 23 hereof or who has not been reappointed, shall be deemed separated from the service and shall be entitled to the benefits provided in the second paragraph of the same Section 23.

(d) In case of the abolition of a government unit which does not result in the transfer of its functions to another unit, the appropriations and funds of the abolished unit shall revert to the General Fund, while the records, equipment, facilities, choses in action, rights and other assets, thereof shall be allocated to such appropriate units as the NSCB Chairman shall determine or shall otherwise be disposed in accordance with the Government Auditing Code and other pertinent laws, rules and regulations. The liabilities of the abolished unit shall be treated in accordance with the Government Auditing Code and other pertinent laws, rules and regulations, while the personnel thereof, whose positions are included in the Ministry's new position structure and staffing pattern approved and prescribed by the NSCB Chairman under Section 23 hereof or who have not been reappointed shall be deemed separated from the service and shall be entitled to the benefits provided in the second paragraph of the same Section 23.

(e) In case of merger or consolidation of government units, the new or surviving unit shall exercise the functions (subject to the reorganization herein prescribed and the laws, rules and regulations pertinent to the exercise of such functions) and shall acquire the appropriations, funds, records, equipment, facilities, choses in action, rights, other assets, liabilities, if any, and personnel, as may be necessary, of (1) the units that compose the merger unit or (2) the absorbed unit, as the case may be. Such personnel shall, in a hold-over capacity, continue to perform their respective duties and responsibilities and receive the corresponding salaries and benefits unless in the meantime they are separated from the service pursuant to Executive Order No. 17 (1986) or Article III of the Freedom Constitution. Any such personnel, whose position is not included in the Philippine Statistical System's new position structure and staffing pattern approved and prescribed by the NSCB Chairman under Section 23 hereof or who is not reappointed, shall be deemed separated from the service and shall be entitled to the benefits provided in the second paragraph of the same Section 23.

(f) In case of termination of a function which does not result in the abolition of the government unit which has performed such function, the appropriations and funds intended to finance the discharge of such function shall revert to the General Fund, while the records, equipment, facilities, choses in action, rights, and other assets used in connection with the discharge of such function shall be allocated to appropriate units as the NSCB Chairman shall determine or shall otherwise be disposed in accordance with the Government Auditing Code and other pertinent laws, rules and regulations. The liabilities, if any, they may have been incurred in connection with the discharge of such function shall likewise be treated in accordance with the Government Auditing Code and other pertinent laws, rules and regulations. The personnel who have performed such function, whose positions are not included in the Philippine Statistical System's new position structure and staffing pattern approved and prescribed by the NSCB Chairman under Section 23 hereof or who have not been appointed, shall be deemed separated from the service and shall be entitled to the benefits provided in the second paragraph of the same Section 23.

SEC. 23. New Structure and Pattern. Upon approval of this Executive Order, the officers (the term "officer" as used in this Executive Order is intended to be within the meaning of the term "official" as used in the Freedom Constitution) and employees of the abolished entities mentioned in Section 21 hereof shall, in a hold-over capacity, continue to perform their respective duties and responsibilities and receive the corresponding salaries and benefits unless in the meantime they are separated from government service pursuant to Executive Order No. 17 (1986) or Article III of the Freedom Constitution.

The new position structure and staffing pattern of the Philippine Statistical System shall be approved and prescribed by the NSCB Chairman within one hundred twenty (120) days from the approval of this Executive Order and the authorized positions created thereunder shall be filled with regular appointments by him or by the President as they case may be. Those incumbents whose positions are not included therein or who are not reappointed shall be deemed separated from the service. Those separated from the service shall receive the retirement benefits to which they may be entitled under the existing laws, rules and regulations. Otherwise, they shall be paid the equivalent of one-month basic salary for every year of service, or the equivalent nearest fraction thereof favorable to them on the basis of highest salary received, but in no case shall such payment exceed the equivalent of 12 months salary.

No court or administrative body shall issue any writ or preliminary injunction or restraining order to enjoin the separation/replacement of any officer or employee effected under this Executive Order.

SEC. 24. Notice of Consent Requirement. If any reorganizational change herein authorized is of such substance or materiality as to prejudice third persons with rights recognized by law or contract such that notice to or consent of creditors are required to be made or obtained pursuant to any agreement entered into with any of such creditors, such notice or consent requirement shall be complied with prior to the implementation of such reorganizational change.

SEC. 25. Periodic Performance Evaluation. The NSCB Chairman is hereby required to formulate and enforce a periodic system of measuring objectively the performance of the NSCB, which shall be submitted semi-annually and annually to the President.

SEC. 26. Prohibition Against Change. No change in the reorganization herein prescribed shall be valid except upon prior approval of the President for the purpose of promoting efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of public services.

SEC. 27. Funding. Funds needed to carry out the reorganization of any agency or office as a result of this Executive Order shall be taken from funds available in said agency or office.

SEC. 28. Implementing Authority of NSCB Chairman. The NSCB Chairman shall issue such rules, regulations and other issuances as may be necessary to ensure the effective implementation of the provisions of this Executive Order.

SEC. 29. Separability. Any portion or provision of this Executive Order that may be declared unconstitutional shall not have the effect of nullifying other portions or provisions hereof, as long as such remaining portions or provisions can still subsist and be given effect in their entirety.

SEC. 30. Repealing Clause. All laws, ordinances, rules, regulations, other issuances, or parts thereof which are inconsistent with this Executive Order, are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SEC. 31. Effectivity. This Executive Order shall take effect immediately upon its approval.

APPROVED in the city of Manila, Philippines, this 30th day of January, in the Year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Seven.

 

(SGD.) CORAZON C. AQUINO

By the President:

 

(SGD.) JOKER P. ARROYO
Executive Secretary

Proclamation No. 647

Declaring the Month of October of Every Year as the National Statistics Month

WHEREAS, statistics plays a pivotal and crucial role in policy formulation, planning and decision making in both the government and the private sectors;

WHEREAS, the crucial role of statistics in nation building must be given the official recognition it rightly deserves;

WHEREAS, the observance of National Statistics Month will be a step towards promoting, enhancing and instilling nation-wide awareness and appreciation of the importance and value that statistics provide the different sectors of our society, while at the same time insuring the support of the public at large in improving and enhancing the quality and standard of statistics in the country;

WHEREAS, there is a need for an over-all coordinator of the different statistical agencies of the government to ensure the success of the various programs to be undertaken during the National Statistics Month;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, CORAZON C. AQUINO, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby declare the month of October of every year as the National Statistics Month under the auspices of the National Statistical Coordination Board.

All departments, agencies and instrumentalities of the national government, local government units, government owned or controlled corporations, the private sector, and the public at large are hereby enjoined to actively support the activities and programs for the National Statistics Month.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Republic of the Philippines to be affixed.

Done in the City of Manila, this 20th day of September in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and ninety.


(SGD) Corazon C. Aquino

By the President:


(SGD) Catalino Macaraig, Jr.
Executive Secretary

The Philippine Statistical Act of 2013

AN ACT REORGANIZING THE PHILIPPINE STATISTICAL SYSTEM, REPEALING FOR THE PURPOSE EXECUTIVE ORDER NUMBERED ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-ONE, ENTITLED “REORGANIZING AND STRENGTHENING THE PHILIPPINE STATISTICAL SYSTEM AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES”

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. – This Act shall be known as the “Philippine Statistical Act of 2013”.

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. – It shall be the policy of the State to effect the necessary and proper changes in the organizational and functional structures of the Philippine Statistical System (PSS), its agencies and instrumentalities, in order to rationalize and promote efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of statistical services, maintain an integrated statistical system characterized by independence, objectivity and integrity so as to enhance responsiveness to the requirements of equitable national development, promote the orderly development of a statistical system capable of providing timely, accurate and useful data for the government and the public, and support decentralization through the establishment of the statistical infrastructure necessary to service the statistical needs of local development planning.

SEC. 3. Reorganization. – The Philippine Statistical System, hereinafter referred to as the PSS, shall be reorganized structurally and functionally, in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

SEC. 4. Philippine Statistical System (PSS). – The PSS shall consist of statistical organizations at all administrative levels, the personnel therein and the national statistical program. This includes a policy-making body, a coordinating body with primary data collection capability, a statistical research and training institute, and all executive departments, bureaus, offices, agencies and instrumentalities of the national and local governments and all government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) and their subsidiaries that are engaged in statistical activities either as their primary functions or as part of their administrative or regulatory functions. The PSS shall remain decentralized with a strong coordination feature to be achieved through postings of trained personnel and closer linkage between statistical programming and budgeting.

SEC. 5. Philippine Statistics Authority. – There shall be created a Philippine Statistics Authority, hereinafter referred to as the PSA, attached to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) for purposes of policy coordination. It shall be comprised of the PSA Board and offices on sectoral statistics, censuses and technical coordination, civil registration and central support and field statistical services.

The PSA Board shall be the highest policy-making body on statistical matters. The data produced by the PSA shall be the official and controlling statistics of the government. The PSA shall be primarily responsible for all national censuses and surveys, sectoral statistics, consolidation of selected administrative recording systems and compilation of the national accounts.

The PSA shall be constituted from among the existing personnel of the major statistical agencies engaged in primary data collection and compilation of secondary data, i.e., the National Statistics Office, herein referred to as the NSO; the Technical Staff of the National Statistical Coordination Board herein referred to as the NSCB; the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics, herein referred to as the BAS; and the Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics, herein referred to as the BLES.

The Departmentof Economic Statistics of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will continue to take charge of banking and financial statistics, including the Balance of Payments (BOP) and flow of funds.

SEC. 6. Functions of the PSA. – The PSA shall have the following functions:

a. Serve as the central statistical authority of the Philippine government on primary data collection;

b. Prepare and conduct periodic censuses on population, housing, agriculture, fisheries, business, industry and other sectors of the economy;

c. Collect, compile, analyze, abstract and publish statistical information relating to the country’s economic, social, demographic, political affairs and general activities and condition of the people;

d. Prepare and conduct statistical sample surveys on all aspects of socioeconomic life including agriculture, industry, trade, finance, prices and marketing information, income and expenditure, education, health, culture and social situations as well as the government and the political sector for the use of the government and the public;

e. Carry out, enforce and administer civil registration functions in the country as provided for in Act No. 3753, otherwise known as the Civil Registry Law;

f. Collaborate with departments of the national government including GOCCs and their subsidiaries in the collection, compilation, maintenance and publication of statistical information, including special statistical data derived from the activities of those departments, corporations and their subsidiaries;

g. Promote and develop integrated social and economic statistics and coordinate plans for the integration of those statistics, including the national accounts;

h. Develop and maintain appropriate frameworks and standards for the collection, processing, analysis and dissemination of data;

i. Coordinate with government departments and local government units (LGUs) on the promotion and adoption of statistical standards involving techniques, methodologies, concepts, definitions and classifications, and on the avoidance of duplication in the collection of statistical information;

j. Conduct continuing methodological, analytical and development activities, in coordination with the Philippine Statistical Research and Training Institute (PSRTI) to improve the conduct of censuses, surveys and other data collection activities;

k. Recommend executive and legislative measures to enhance the development of the statistical activities and programs of the government;

l. Prepare, in consultation with the PSA Board, a Philippine Statistical Development Program (PSDP);

m. Implement policies on statistical matters and coordination, as directed by the PSA Board; and

n. Perform other functions as may be assigned by the PSA Board and as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.

SEC. 7. Composition of the PSA Board. – The PSA Board shall be composed of the following: the NEDA Director-General, as Chairperson; the Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) or the duly designated Undersecretary, as Vice Chairperson; National Statistician; one (1) representative each from the other departments in the national government; a representative of the BSP; the Executive Director of the PSRTI; a representative of the Philippine Statistical Association; a representative from the GOCCs; a representative each from the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) and the private sector to be appointed by the Chairperson of the PSA Board for a term of three (3) years, with reappointment, from a list of nominees submitted by the other members of the Board.

In the absence or temporary incapacity of the NEDA Director-General, the DBM Secretary or the duly designated Undersecretary shall act as the Chairperson of the Board.

The PSA Board shall constitute five (5) sections, each with a maximum of seven (7) members. Each section shall meet as often as possible to deliberate on matters to be discussed by the PSA Board. These sections are the following:

a. Agriculture, Industry, Trade and Services, Environment and Natural Resources, Prices and National Accounts;

b. Labor and Employment, Population, Women and Gender, Health and Welfare, Education, Science and Technology and other Socioeconomic Sectors;

c. Census and Survey Design;

d. Theoretical Statistics and Statistical Modeling; and

e. Statistical Information System and Information Technology.

The Board may create sections as deemed necessary and appropriate.

SEC. 8. Meeting and Compensation. – The PSA Board shall:

a. Conduct its first organizational meeting within forty-five (45) days from the effectivity of this Act; and

b. Hold regular quarterly meetings and have as many special meetings as may be necessary on call of the Chairperson or upon request of any fifteen (15) members thereof.

The members of the Board, except for the ex officio members, shall each receiveper diem at rates to be determined by the DBM in accordance with existing rules and regulations: Provided, however, That the total per diem, collected each month shall not exceed the equivalent per diem for four (4) meetings.

SEC. 9. Powers and Functions of the PSA Board. – The PSA Board shall have the following powers and functions:

a. Establish appropriate mechanisms to promote and maintain an efficient and effective statistical system in the government;

b. Formulate policies on all matters relating to government statistical operations, standards and classifications;

c. Review the statistical programs of the departments and agencies of the national government and the LGUs and rationalize responsibilities in these government organizations on matters relating to such statistical programs;

d. Review budgetary proposals involving statistical operations and submit an integrated budget for the PSS to the DBM;

e. Prescribe appropriate frameworks for the improvement of statistical coordination and establish mechanisms for statistical coordination at the regional and LGU levels;

f. Provide technical assistance and exercise supervision over major government statistical activities;

g. Recommend executive and legislative measures to enhance the development and efficiency of the system, including the internal structure of statistical agencies; and

h. Approve the Philippine Statistical Development Program.

The PSA Board shall act on and decide matters before it by a majority vote of all its members. A majority of the members of the PSA Board shall constitute a quorum in the conduct of its day to day affairs and business.

All agencies of government are hereby mandated to comply with any and all directives requested by the PSA Board, either motu proprio or through the PSA. Failure, without justifiable reason, by any agency to comply with this mandate shall result in the filing of administrative and criminal cases against the erring government personnel and the immediate superior concerned without prejudice to violation of any other law or regulation. In a criminal case, the penalties provided in the second paragraph of Section 27 hereof shall apply.

SEC. 10. Inter-Agency Committees on Statistics. – The following inter-agency statistical committees (IACs) shall be created by the PSA Board to coordinate and resolve agency and sectoral concerns on statistical matters. The IAC shall serve as a forum for discussion of the issues raised by concerned producers, users and other stakeholders of sectoral and agency-specific statistics:

a. Committee on Agriculture;

b. Committee on Trade and Industry Statistics;

c. Committee on Infrastructure;

d. Committee on Financial Statistics;

e. Committee on Social Statistics;

f. Committee on Gender Statistics;

g. Committee on Environment and Natural Resources;

h. Committee on Information and Communications Technology;

i. Committee on Science and Technology;

j. Committee on Governance;

k. Committee on Migration;

l. Committee on Fiscal Matters; and

m. Committee on PSS Resources.

The PSA Board may create IACs to assist in the exercise of its functions or abolish them as appropriate. It shall define the functions and terms of reference of the IACs which will allow flexibility and the ability to respond to future emerging statistical concerns on various sectors.

The membership of the IACs may be increased or decreased as the exigencies of the work require: Provided, That these shall be authorized by the PSA Board. The IACs may create subcommittees or working groups as the need arises in the work to be done. Membership of said subcommittees or working groups shall come from the technical staff of the government agencies represented and other private entities.

The IACs shall submit to the PSA Board their work programs and report on the progress of their work, including findings and recommendations on technical issues referred to them.

SEC. 11. The National Statistician. – The National Statistician, as head of the PSA, must possess experience in the management of data collection and at least a Master’s degree in Statistics. The National Statistician shall be appointed by the President of the Republic of the Philippines from among a list of nominees submitted by a Special Committee. The Special Committee shall be composed of representatives from the Philippine Statistical Association, the University of the Philippines’ School of Statistics (UPSS), the University of the Philippines-Los Baños Institute of Statistics (UPLB-INSTAT), the Department of Economic Statistics of the BSP and the NEDA.

The National Statistician shall serve for a term of five (5) years and may be reappointed.

The National Statistician shall perform the following duties:

a. Direct and supervise the general administration of the PSA;

b. Prescribe rules and regulations, instructions, schedule and form of business of the PSA in the collection, compilation and dissemination of statistics and other information and in the conduct of any census;

c. Provide overall direction in the implementation of the Civil Registry Law and related issuances and exercise technical supervision over the local civil registrars as Civil Registrar General;

d. Direct and manage the implementation and execution of policies, standards, rules and regulations formulated by the PSA Board;

e. Issue appointments of PSA personnel below the rank of Director;

f. Represent PSA as signatory to all contracts, researches and other awards;

g. Represent the Philippines in regional and international conferences and meetings as the country’s highest authority with respect to statistical matters;

h. Submit a report to the President of the Republic of the Philippines through the NEDA Director-General on the activities of the PSA in the preceding year. Such report shall also be submitted separately in the annual report to Congress during the presentation of the President’s budget; and

i. Perform such other functions as may be assigned by the PSA Board.

SEC. 12. Organizational Structure of the PSA. – The PSA offices shall be composed of the Sectoral Statistics Office, Censuses and Technical Coordination Office, Civil Registration and Central Support Office, Field Statistical Services comprising of the regional offices and provincial statistical offices.

The PSA shall be headed by a National Statistician and assisted by three (3) Deputy National Statisticians:

(a) Deputy National Statistician for Sectoral Statistics;

(b) Deputy National Statistician for Censuses and Technical Coordination; and

(c) Deputy National Statistician for Civil Registration and Central Support.

There shall be established, directly under the Office of the National Statistician, the following support units:

(1) Legal Services;

(2) Statistical Methodology;

(3) International Cooperation; and

(4) Management and Corporate Planning.

The Deputy National Statistician for Sectoral Statistics shall supervise three (3) Assistant National Statisticians (ANS), who shall oversee the following offices:

(1) Macroeconomic Accounts Statistics – shall be responsible for the development and maintenance of national accounts, regional accounts, satellite accounts, input/output tables and other related, macroeconomic accounts;

(2) Economic Sector Statistics – shall be responsible for the production of primary data on agriculture, industry, trade, services, environment and natural resources, prices and other related economic statistics; and

(3) Social Sector Statistics – shall be responsible for the production of primary data on labor and employment, population, women and gender, health and welfare, education, science and technology, housing and urbanization, emerging concerns and other related social statistics.

The Deputy National Statistician for Censuses and Technical Coordination shall supervise three (3) Assistant National Statisticians, who shall oversee the following offices:

(1) National Censuses – shall be responsible for the planning and production of data from censuses on population and housing, agriculture, fisheries and economic activities; and development and maintenance of sampling frames and geographic information on population and housing, agriculture, fisheries and economic activities;

(2) Standards – shall be responsible for the formulation and monitoring of statistical development programs, formulation of standards and classification, including glossary of statistical terms and geographic classification; and

(3) Information Technology (IT) and Dissemination – shall be responsible for the development and maintenance of IT systems and programs, IT operations, statistical data archives, communication and information services.

The Deputy National Statistician for Civil Registration and Central Support shall supervise two (2) Assistant National Statisticians, who shall oversee the following offices:

(1) Civil Registration – shall be responsible for the civil registry document management and archiving, data center, policy advocacy and research on civil registration matters, outlet and customer services and other civil registration concerns; and

(2) Central Support – shall be responsible for the general administration, financial services, human resource management, human resource development and procurement.

SEC. 13. Sectoral Statistics Office. – The Sectoral Statistics Office shall:

(a) Provide technical staff support to the PSA in the areas of agriculture, natural resources, agrarian reform, mining and quarrying, manufacturing, electricity, gas and water, energy, construction, foreign and domestic trade, services, science and technology, finance, investment, population, women and gender, health, nutrition, education, labor and employment, social welfare, governance, public order and justice;

(b) Provide technical staff support to the PSA in generating the national accounts and the development and maintenance of economic and social accounts;

(c) Plan and conduct surveys as may be required, in accordance with the approved statistical calendar; and

(d) Perform such other tasks as may be assigned by the National Statistician.

SEC. 14. Censuses and Technical Coordination Office. – The Censuses and Technical Coordination Office shall:

(a) Prepare, conduct, process and disseminate census results in accordance with the approved statistical calendar;

(b) Maintain and develop statistical standards and classification systems;

(c) Provide technical assistance to other concerned government offices to meet their statistical requirements for policy-making, planning and programming;

(d) Coordinate the activities of the Regional Statistical Services;

(e) Provide information technology systems and programming and IT operations support for the PSA projects;

(f) Provide other PSA offices with cartographic services;

(g) Maintain archives and communication and information services of PSA generated data;

(h) Provide the data center for statistics and civil registration; and

(i) Perform such other tasks as may be assigned by the National Statistician.

SEC. 15. Civil Registration and Central Support Office. – The Civil Registration and Central Support Office shall provide technical and support services to the various units of the PSA in the areas of administrative services, financial management services and human resources. It shall likewise provide technical and support services for the efficient functioning of civil registration system and perform such other tasks as may be assigned by the National Statistician.

SEC. 16. Field Statistical Services. – A Regional Statistical Services Office (RSSO) and Provincial Statistical Office (PSO) shall be established in each of the administrative regions and provinces, respectively. The RSSO and PSO shall:

(a) Provide technical staff support to the PSA;

(b) Provide technical assistance as may be required by the implementing agencies and local governments in the regions and provinces; and

(c) Perform such other tasks as may be assigned by the National Statistician.

SEC. 17. Philippine Statistical Research and Training Institute (PSRTI). – The PSRTI is hereby created and shall be attached to the NEDA for purposes of policy coordination. As such, the Statistical Research and Training Center (SRTC) is hereby abolished and all SRTC assets and liabilities, appropriations, records and personnel, if any, shall be transferred to the PSRTI.

SEC. 18. Functions of the PSRTI. – The PSRTI shall carry out the following functions:

(a) Develop a comprehensive and integrated research and training program on the theories, concepts and methodologies for the promotion of the statistical system;

(b) Undertake research on statistical concepts, definitions and methods;

(c) Promote collaborative research efforts among members of the academic community, data producers and users;

(d) Conduct nondegree training programs to upgrade the quality of statistics personnel and expand the statistics human resource base in support of the needs of the PSS;

(e) Provide scholarships, financial and other forms of assistance to build statistical manpower and enhance training and statistical research and development;

(f) Serve as repository of all statistical researches and studies to be generated by the PSA as well as back-up/duplicate files of data archives and other statistical databases of the PSS; and

(g) Invest its funds in such undertaking as it may deem wise or necessary to carry out its objectives with due consideration to existing guidelines on investing government funds.

SEC. 19. Composition of the PSRTI. – The PSRTI shall be headed by an Executive Director, who shall be nominated by the PSA Board and appointed by the President of the Republic of the Philippines. The PSRTI Executive Director shall possess a Master’s degree in Statistics.

The PSRTI shall have a governing board that shall formulate policies for its management and operations. The PSA Board Chairperson shall be the Chairperson of the PSRTI Governing Board, with the following as members: Dean of the University of the Philippines’ School of Statistics, Executive Director of the Philippine Social Science Council (PSSC), a representative of the NEDA and the Executive Director of the PSRTI, as ex officio members. The PSA Board Chairperson may appoint two (2) representatives from the private sector to the PSRTI Governing Board from among a list of nominees submitted by the Board.

The PSRTI Governing Board shall meet at least every semester to discuss and formulate policies for the management and operations of the PSRTI. The PSRTI shall provide reasonable allowances to its Governing Board.

SEC. 20. PSRTI Fellows and Associates. – The PSRTI shall be authorized to engage professionals either as fellows or associates, for purposes of conducting training sessions and researches for the PSRTI. Fellows should have experience in research or training and have preferably earned a doctorate degree in Statistics, Economics, Social Sciences, Computer Sciences or related disciplines while associates should have earned at least a Masteral degree in these fields. Those so engaged by the PSRTI shall be issued appointments and paid fees as determined by the PSRTI, and as approved by the PSA Board.

SEC. 21. PSRTI Endowment Fund. – The existing SRTC Endowment Fund shall be transferred to the PSRTI and serve as the initial PSRTI endowment fund. The PSRTI is authorized to accept into its endowment fund any contributions, donations, bequests, grants and loans from domestic and/or foreign sources, government appropriations and other incomes accruing from the operations of the PSRTI, for purposes of executing its mandate and functions.

The amount necessary to augment the endowment fund shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.

SEC. 22. PSRTI Operating Funds. – The amount appropriated for the operating fund of the SRTC under the current General Appropriations Act shall constitute the initial operating fund of the PSRTI. Thereafter, the government contribution necessary to support the research and training programs of the PSRTI shall be determined based on the annual financial plan approved by its Governing Board and submitted to the DBM.

SEC. 23. Posting of Statistical Personnel in Government Offices. – In the exercise of its functions and in accordance with the priorities set by the PSA Board, the PSA may post teams of its statistical personnel in other government offices to carry out the work program to be drawn up in coordination with the host offices. The posted teams shall be proportional to the size and needs of the government offices. Personnel posted in a government office shall be supervised by the Deputy National Statistician for Sectoral Statistics and shall render fortnightly statistical reports to the Office of the National Statistician. The heads of the host offices shall submit periodic performance evaluation reports on posted personnel to the National Statistician.

SEC. 24. Philippine Statistical Development Program (PSDP). – The PSDP shall consist of all statistical activities to be undertaken by the PSS in response to the requirements of development planning and policy formulation.

SEC. 25. Obligation to Provide Information. – The National Statistician shall determine whether a statistical inquiry or survey to be conducted is with or without an obligation to provide information. If such obligation is stipulated, all respondents whether natural or legal persons shall be liable to reply to the statistical inquiry or survey. This section applies to all statistical inquiries or surveys conducted by other statistical offices in the PSS.

The respondents under this Act are required to give truthful and complete answers to statistical inquiries or surveys of the PSA and other statistical offices of the PSS. The respondent is considered to have complied with the obligation only upon receipt of the duly completed statistical inquiry or survey forms. The government shall provide franking privileges, charges and postings to the survey offices, unless otherwise disallowed by law.

The PSA is authorized to gather data from other government agencies for statistical purposes.

SEC. 26. Confidentiality of Information. – Individual data furnished by a respondent to statistical inquiries, surveys and censuses of the PSA shall be considered privileged communication and as such shall be inadmissible as evidence in any proceeding.

The PSA may release aggregated information from statistical inquiries, surveys and censuses in the form of summaries or statistical tables in which no reference to an individual, corporation, association, partnership, institution or business enterprise shall appear.

The National Statistician and all staff of the PSA shall take a solemn oath regarding confidentiality of information. However, confidentiality of information does not apply to:

(a) Information in the form of a list or index of individual business firms, establishments or organizations that contain any or all of the following information:

(1) The name, address and telephone numbers;

(2) The business and products that they are engaged in; and

(3) The specific ranges of number of employees.

(b) Microdata from statistical inquiries or survey form/questionnaire/schedule prepared by the PSA for purposes of research, with care to ensure that identities of a particular person, business or organization will not be disclosed in whatever form; and

(c) Access to census data after one hundred (100) years for historical, genealogical, scientific or other research purposes.

SEC. 27. Penalties. – Respondents of primary data collection activities such as censuses and sample surveys are obliged to give truthful and complete answers to statistical inquiries. The gathering, consolidation and analysis of such data shall likewise be done in the most truthful and credible manner.

To ensure compliance, any violation of this Act shall result in the imposition of the penalty of one (1) year imprisonment and a fine of One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00). In cases where the respondent who fails to give a truthful and complete answer to such statistical inquiries is a corporation, the above penalty shall be imposed against the responsible officer, director, manager and/or agent of said corporation. In addition, such erring corporation or any other juridical entity, depending on the category of the enterprise or business concerned whether small, medium or large, shall be imposed a fine ranging from One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00) to Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00).

Any person, including parties within the PSA Board and the PSA, who breach the confidentiality of information, whether by carelessness, improper behavior, behavior with malicious intent, and use of confidential information for profit, are considered guilty of an offense and shall be liable to fines as prescribed by the PSA Board which shall not be less than Five thousand pesos (P5,000.00) nor more than Ten thousand pesos (P10,000.00) and/or imprisonment of three (3) months but not to exceed one (1) year, subject to the degree of breach of information.

Failure to comply with the survey clearance provision shall be penalized by a fine of Fifty thousand pesos (P50,000.00) to One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00), depending on the gravity and seriousness of such noncompliance.

SEC. 28. Abolition of Existing Government Bodies. – The NSO, the BAS of the Department of Agriculture, the BLES of the Department of Labor and Employment, and the NSCB shall be abolished and their appropriations, records, properties and personnel shall be transferred to the PSA.

SEC. 29. Transitory Provisions. – The PSA shall carry out the reorganization of the PSS in such a manner that personnel of the agencies absorbed by the PSA shall continue to perform their respective duties and responsibilities in a holdover capacity so as not to unduly delay the production of statistics from ongoing censuses, surveys and processing of administrative records.

SEC. 30. Early Retirement, Separation Pay and Other Benefits. – Personnel of the merged agencies who will not be absorbed into the new staffing pattern due to redundancy or failure to comply with the standards of competence and proficiency, or who will be offered positions under the new staffing pattern but who decline such appointment by reason of diminution in rank, benefits and work conditions, or who are offered positions under the new staffing pattern without any diminution in rank, benefits and work conditions but who decline such appointment, if qualified, shall be given the option to avail themselves of any of the following, whichever is beneficial to them:

(a) Retirement gratuity provided under Republic Act No. 1616 (An Act Further Amending Section Twelve Of Commonwealth Act Numbered One Hundred Eighty-Six, As Amended, By Prescribing Two Other Modes Of Retirement And For Other Purposes), as amended, payable by the last employer of the affected personnel, plus the refund of retirement premiums payable by the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), without the incentive herein provided.

(b) Retirement benefit under Republic Act No. 660 (An Act To Amend Commonwealth Act Numbered One Hundred And Eighty-Six, Entitled “An Act To Create And Establish A Government Service Insurance System, To Provide For Its Administration, And To Appropriate The Necessary Funds Therefor,” And To Provide Retirement Insurance And For Other Purposes) or applicable retirement, separation or unemployment benefit provided under Republic Act No. 8291 (An Act Amending Presidential Decree No. 1146, As Amended, Expanding And Increasing The Coverage And Benefits Of The Government Service Insurance System, Instituting Reforms Therein And For Other Purposes) if qualified, plus the following applicable incentives:

(b.1.) 1/2 month of the present basic salary for every year of government service and a fraction thereof, for those who have rendered twenty (20) years of service and below;

(b.2.) 3/4 month of the present basic salary for every year of government service and a fraction thereof, computed starting from the 1st year, for those who have rendered twenty-one (21) to less than thirty-one (31) years of service; and

(b.3.) 1 month of the present basic salary for every year of government service and a fraction thereof, computed starting from the 1st year, for those who have rendered thirty-one (31) years of service and above.

In addition, the affected personnel shall be entitled to the refund of Pag-IBIG contributions, and the commutation of unused vacation and sick leave credits.

SEC. 31. Funds for Reorganization. – The amount necessary for the effective implementation of the provisions ofthis Act shall be taken from funds available to the agencies enumerated in Section 28 hereof. Additional requirements shall be charged to the appropriations under the current General Appropriations Act. Thereafter, such sum as may be needed for the continued implementation of this Act shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.

SEC. 32. Implementing Rules and Regulations. – The PSA Board together with the PSA, the PSRTI, the NEDA and other concerned agencies of government that may be determined by the PSA Board, shall formulate the implementing rules and regulations of this Act within ninety (90) days after its approval. Such rules and regulations shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines.

SEC. 33. Separability Clause. – If any part, section or provision of this Act is declared invalid or unconstitutional, no other parts, sections or provisions hereof shall be affected thereby.

SEC. 34. Repealing Clause. – Executive Order No. 121 is hereby repealed. All other laws, decrees, ordinances, rules, regulations, other issuances or parts thereof which are inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SEC. 35. Effectivity Clause. – This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved,

(Sgd.) JINGGOY EJERCITO ESTRADA
Acting Senate President

(Sgd.) FELICIANO BELMONTE JR.
Speaker of the House
of Representatives

This Act which originated in the House of Representatives was finally passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate on June 6, 2013.

(Sgd.) EMMA LIRIO-REYES
Secretary of the Senate

(Sgd.) MARILYN B. BARUA-YAP
Secretary General
House of Representatives

Approved: SEP 12 2013

(Sgd.) BENIGNO S. AQUINO III
President of the Philippines

Interagency Committees on Statistics

Republic Act No. 10625 (RA 10625) or the “Philippine Statistical Act of 2013,” provides for the establishment of interagency statistical committees (IACs) by the PSA Board for the purpose of coordinating and resolving agency and sectoral concerns on statistical matters.  The IACs serve as forums for discussion of the issues raised by concerned producers, users and other stakeholders of statistics.

By virtue of RA 10625, the PSA Board is also granted the authority to create IACs other than those provided in the RA, or abolish them as appropriate.  The PSA Board defines the composition and terms of reference of the IACs which will allow flexibility and the ability to respond to future emerging statistical concerns on various sectors.

In addition to the IACs, technical committees (TCs) and task forces (TFs) have been created by the PSA Board. The TC has the same functions as the IACs but membership to the committee is based on one’s personal expertise in a particular sector/field. On the other hand, a TF is created to lead the conduct of a particular task/study and shall be terminated once the output has been submitted to the PSA Board.

TECHNICAL COMMITTEE/INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE/TASK FORCE (TC/IAC/TF)MEMORANDUM ORDER (MO)
1. Technical Committee on Poverty StatisticsMO 01, 2. 2020
2. Technical Committee on Statistical Standards and ClassificationsMO 12, 2. 2020
3. IAC on Agriculture and Fishery StatisticsMO 08, s. 2018
4. IAC on Civil Registration and Vital StatisticsMO 03, s. 2019
5. IAC on Education StatisticsMO 08, s. 2019
6. IAC on Environment and Natural Resources StatisticsMO 05, s. 2020
7. IAC on Monetary, Financial and Government Finance StatisticsMO 01, s. 2021
8. IAC on Gender, Children and Youth StatisticsMO 02, s. 2020
9. IAC on Governance StatisticsMO 09, s. 2017
10. IAC on Health and Nutrition StatisticsMO 04, s. 2019
11. IAC on Information and Communications Technology StatisticsMO 06, s. 2020
12. IAC on Transportation and Infrastructure StatisticsMO 06, s. 2023
13. IAC on Investment StatisticsMO 02, s. 2019
14. IAC on Labor and Productivity StatisticsMO 07, s. 2020
15. IAC on Macroeconomic Accounts StatisticsMO 04, s. 2020
16. IAC on Migration StatisticsMO 04, s. 2018
17. IAC on Population and Housing StatisticsMO 08, s. 2023
18. IAC on Price StatisticsMO 07, s. 2019
19. IAC on Science, Technology and Innovation StatisticsMO 01, s. 2019
20. IAC on Security, Justice and Peace StatisticsMO 10, s. 2020
21. IAC on Social Protection StatisticsMO 11, s. 2020
22. IAC on Statistical Information Management and DisseminationMO 09, s. 2020
23. IAC on Tourism StatisticsMO 02, s. 2020
24. IAC on Trade and Industry StatisticsMO 11, s. 2018
25. IAC on PSS ResourcesMO 12, s. 2018
26. Task Force on Big Data for Official StatisticsMO 04, s. 2022
27. Task Force on Citizen-Generated Data for Official ReportingMO 09, s. 2019

Batas Pambansa Blg. 72

An act providing for the taking of an integrated census every ten years beginning in the year nineteen hundred and eighty, and for other purposes.

SECTION 1. A national census of population and other related data shall be taken every decade beginning in 1980, in accordance with plans prepared by the National Census and Statistics Office, without prejudice to the undertaking of special censuses on agriculture, industry, commerce, housing and other sectors as may be approved by the National Economic and Development Authority.

SECTION 2. There is hereby created the National Census Coordinating Board to be composed of the Minister of Economic Planning, as Chairman, the Minister of Human Settlements, the Minister of the Budget, the Minister of Justice, the Minister of National Defense, the Minister of Labor, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Education and Culture, the Minister of Public Works, the Minister of Transportation and Communications, the Minister of Public Highways, the Minister of Agriculture, the Minister of Natural Resources, the Minister of Public Information, and the Minister of Local Government and Community Development, as members, with the Executive Director of the National Census and Statistics Office as Executive Officer of the Board.

The censuses shall be under the supervision and coordination of the National Census Coordinating Board which shall issue such rules and regulations as may be necessary for the successful undertaking and completion of the census provided in this Act.

SECTION 3. There shall be established a provincial, city and municipal census board in each province, city and municipality, as the case may be which, shall provide such facilities and assistance as may be required by the National Census Coordinating Board. The boards shall be under the supervision and control of the National Census Coordinating Board.

SECTION 4. The Provincial Census Board shall be composed of the Provincial Governor, as Chairman, and the Division Superintendent of Schools, or in the case of province with more than one school division, the Division Superintendent designated by the National Census Coordinating Board , as Vice Chairman, the District Highway Engineer, or in the case of provinces which have two or more highway engineering districts, the one that may be designated by the National Census Coordinating Board, the Provincial Commander of the Philippine Constabulary, the Provincial Development Officer, the Provincial Assessor, and the Provincial Agriculturist, as members, with the Provincial Census Officer as the Executive Officer.

The City Census Board shall be composed of the City Mayor, as Chairman, and the City Superintendent of Schools, as Vice Chairman, the City Engineer, the City Development Officer, and the City Assessor, as members, with the City Census Officer as the Executive Officer.

The Municipal Census Board shall be composed of the Municipal Mayor, as Chairman, and the District Supervisor, the Municipal Agriculturist, the Station Commander, the Municipal Treasurer, and the Municipal Development Officer, as members, with the Municipal Census Officer/Census Supervisor as the Executive Officer.

SECTION 5. The National Census Coordinating Board and the local census board may call upon any ministry, bureau, office, agency or instrumentality of the Government for any assistance in the performance of their duties.

SECTION 6. The first day of May of every regular census year is hereby designated as the reference date for the census. The collection of data will be by enumeration and the respondent shall be the head or any responsible member of the household.

SECTION 7. Public school teachers shall be employed for enumeration work and for such service shall be paid an honorarium as may be determined by the National Census Coordinating Board but in not case not less than two hundred-fifty pesos and shall receive service credits equivalent to the number of days rendered in census work. Other government employees whose services are engaged for census work shall be entitled to such allowances as shall be prescribed by the National Census Coordinating Board payable from census funds. The census herein taken at the barangay level shall be certified to by the corresponding barangay captain.

SECTION 8. Before the end of the year 1980 and of every census year thereafter, a count of the population by province, city, municipality and barangay shall be published by the National Census and Statistics Office. The final population count as determined from the processed census returns shall be considered official for all purposes upon proclamation by the President (Prime Minister).

SECTION 9. Data gathered pursuant to this Act shall not be used as evidence in any court or public office for or against any person, except in a criminal case for violation of Section 10 of this Act, nor shall such data be divulged to any person except to authorized employees of the National Census and Statistic Office, acting in the performance of their duties; nor shall such data be published except in the form of summaries or statistical tables in which no reference to an individual shall appear. Any person violating any provision of this Section shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred pesos or by imprisonment of not more than six months, or both.

SECTION 10. Any respondent as provided for in Section 6 who unjustifiably refuses to furnish the information called for in the census questionnaire, or knowingly certifies or gives data or information which shall prove to be materially untrue in any particular, shall be guilty of an offense under this Act and shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred pesos or by imprisonment of not more than three months, or both.

SECTION 11. The amount necessary for the holding of censuses shall be charged to the appropriations available for the purpose in the corresponding Appropriations Acts.

SECTION 12. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved, June 11, 1980

Presidential Decree No. 418

Reconstituting the Bureau of the Census and Statistics of the Department of Trade as a new agency under the administrative supervision of the National Economic and Development Authority to be known as the National Census and Statistics Office.

WHEREAS, it is necessary to link directly the functions of the Bureau of the Census and Statistics with the requirements of national social and economic development planning;

WHEREAS, the National Economic and Development Authority, being the highest development planning body, is the logical focal point for securing the desired linkage that will give more development orientation in the operations of the Bureau of the Census and Statistics and make it serve more efficiently the requirements of the development planning;

WHEREAS, to attain this objective, the organizational status and form of the Bureau of the Census and Statistics should be redefined and reconstituted under the administrative supervision of the National Economic and Development Authority;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the constitution, do hereby order and decree:

Section 1.  The Bureau of the Census and Statistics of the Department of Trade is hereby reconstituted as a new agency to be known as the National Census and Statistics Office. The Office shall be transferred from the Department of Trade and placed under the administrative supervision of the National Economic and Development Authority.

Section 2.  The Office shall be headed by an Executive Director and shall have the same organizational structure and functions prescribed for the Bureau of the Census and Statistics under the Integrated Reorganization Plan, as amended: Provided, However, That the Director General of the National Economic and Development Authority may make modifications thereon as may be necessary: Provided, Further, That except for the Executive Director and Assistant Executive Director who shall be appointed by the President, upon recommendation of the Director General of the National Economic and Development Authority, all other personnel of the Office shall be appointed by the Executive Director and shall be under his control and supervision: Provided, Furthermore, That the staffing pattern for high-level professional and technical personnel of the Office which shall be prepared for purposes of implementing the reorganization prescribed for the Bureau of the Census and Statistics under the Plan shall be reviewed and recommended for approval by the Director General of the National Economic and Development Authority: Provided, Finally, That the regular professional and technical personnel of the Office shall be exempt from the coverage of the classification and compensation plans of the Wage and Position Classification Office, and Civil Service rules and regulations.

Section 3.  The present personnel complement of the Bureau of the Census and Statistics together with its applicable appropriations, records, equipment and property shall be transferred to the Office herein created.

Section 4.  The National Economic and Development Authority shall: (a) provide general policies and priorities which shall serve as the general framework for the statistical operations of the Office; (b) review and recommend for approval statistical programs and budgets for such programs, as recommended by the Office.

Section 5.  The Office shall assist the Statistical Advisory Board and the National Economic and Development Authority in the formulation of a continuing comprehensive statistical program for the government and shall provide technical assistance and support to projects of other statistical agencies and institutions particularly those concerned with the improvement of economic statistics.

Section 6.  This Decree shall take effect and shall be implemented immediately.

Section 7.  All laws, executive orders, decrees, rules and regulations, or parts thereof, contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Decree are hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly.

Done in the City of Manila, this 20th day of March, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-four.

Presidential Proclamation No. 248

WHEREAS, the Philippine Statistical Development Program (PSDP) provides statistical information for policy-making and decision-making of the government and private sectors as well as the general public;

WHEREAS, the overall vision of the Philippine Statistical System (PSS) for the period 1999- 2004 envisions a proactive statistical community capable of providing relevant statistical information and excellent services to society towards sustainable development and growth with social equity;

WHEREAS, through an inter-agency Steering Committee and Technical Working Groups composed of representatives from both government and non-government institutions, the NSCB Technical Staff spearheaded the formulation of the various programs/projects and strategies to achieve the above vision which is in support of the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) 1999 - 2004 (Angat Pinoy 2004);

WHEREAS, by virtue of its powers and functions under Executive Order No. 121, series of 1987, the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) has approved the PSDP, 1999 - 2004;

NOW THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH EJERCITO ESTRADA, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby proclaim the adoption of the PSDP 1999-2004.

Pursuant to the Proclamation:

1. The 1999-2004 PSDP shall become an integral part of the MTPDP 1999-2004 (Angat Pinoy 2004);

2. The different agencies should prioritize within their budget ceiling and prepare the financial requirements of the proposed statistical activities in accordance with the three-year budgeting cycle;

3. The PSDP shall be used as a framework and a mechanism for coordinating statistical activities in the government through the NSCB;

4. All agencies in the government and the private sector are enjoined to actively participate and/or lend support to the programs and projects of the PSS as contained in the PSDP.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Republic of the Philippines to be affixed.

Done in the City of Manila, the 24th day of February in the year of our Lord two thousand.

 

(Signed)
JOSEPH EJERCITO ESTRADA

By the President:

(Signed)
RONALDO B. ZAMORA
Executive Secretary

Executive Order No. 406

Institutionalizing the Philippine Economic-Environmental and Natural Resources Accounting (PEENRA) System and Creating Units Within the Organizational Structure of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), and National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB)

WHEREAS, the Philippines has established a firm resolve to pursue sustainable development as contained in the Medium-Term Plan 1993-1998 and the Philippine Agenda 21. Towards this end, there is a need for integrated socio-economic and environmental plans, programs and policies;

WHEREAS, the Philippine System of National Accounts (PSNA), the basis for the formulation of medium-and long-term development plans, does not yet capture the role of the environment as a source of natural capital and as sink for the waste generated by production and other human activities;

WHEREAS, there is a need to establish a PEENRA System as a satellite account to the PSNA to generate macro-indicators that shall reflect the relationships and interactions between the natural environment and the economy;

WHEREAS, the Philippine Agenda 21 includes as one of its targets the initial institutionalization of Environmental and Natural Resources Accounting (ENRA) to develop a comprehensive indicator of sustainable development and to improve current efforts to consider and adequate value natural capital or ecosystem services in socio-economic decisions and establish a reliable database on social valuation estimates of environmental services;

WHEREAS, the APEC Senior Officials and Ministerial Meetings on Sustainable Development held in the Philippines in May and July 1996, respectively, recommended the introduction and adoption of Environmental and Natural Resources Accounting;

WHEREAS, the NSCB as the agency mandated to develop and maintain the PSNA, and the DENR and NEDA are currently performing functions in support of environment and natural resources accounting.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FIDEL V. RAMOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the constitution, do hereby order:

SECTION. 1. PEENRA and other Units - PEENRA Units shall be created within the organizational structure of the NSCB and the DENR. A unit at NEDA shall be designated to coordinate ENRA activities and NEDA's present personnel shall be augmented to assume such functions.

The PEENRA Unit at the NSCB shall:

1. compile the environmental accounts, and study and formulate viable approaches and methodologies for the PEENRA;
2. explore ways and means to modify and improve current environmental and economic statistics, in coordination with the concerned data producing agencies as well as data users;
3. serve as repository of all PEENRA-related data materials through the National Statistical Information Center which the NSCB has established;
4. provide technical and secretariat services to the Inter-Agency Committee and Task Forces which the PEENRA Steering Committee may create for
the coordinated functioning of the data generating agencies; and
5. act as the secretariat of the PEENRA Steering Committee.

The designated Unit at NEDA shall:

1. coordinate the conduct of consultations, orientations and training-seminars for the members of the Philippine Council for Sustainable Development
(PCSD) and other concerned institutions or units;
2. coordinate the conduct of studies and research in support of policy development related to PEENRA; and
3. establish mechanisms for the integration of environmental considerations in planning, policy, project development and implementation based on
PEENRA results.

The PEENRA Unit at DENR shall:

1. compile sectoral resource accounts, and study and formulate viable approaches and methodologies in coordination with NSCB;
2. conduct studies and research in support of policy development related to PEENRA;
3. ensure that environmental considerations are integrated in their policy, project planning and implementation based on PEENRA results; and
4. provide environmental and natural resources data and strengthen its statistical capabilities for PEENRA.

The above PEENRA units shall closely coordinate to ensure consistency/ complementarity of activities in support of PEENRA system.

Other agencies which will provide inputs to and adopt the PEENRA system may establish their own PEENRA units as necessary.

SEC. 2. Data Support - The NSCB shall designate the required environment and economic statistics and the agencies / bureaus which shall be responsible for generating such data.

SEC. 3. Creation of PEENRA Steering Committee (PEENRA-SC). A Steering Committee on PEENRA is hereby created which shall initially include the NSCB, DENR, NEDA NSO, DTI and DA. The PEENRA-SC shall provide directions for the coordinated functioning of the PEENRA Units. It shall create ad-hoc or permanent inter-agency committees and task forces which will support the data and technical requirements of the PEENRA. The member agencies shall be represented by designated Undersecretary level officials for DENR, DTI, NSO and DA and the NSCB. There will also be representatives from the non-government sector to include one (1) representative each from the academe, NGO/PO, business and labor sectors. The Secretary of Socio-Economic Planning and NEDA Director-General, as the chairman of the PCSD, shall act as the Chairman of the PEENRA-SC.

SEC. 4. Funding - The PEENRA-SC shall submit a budget proposal, for approval of the President, to be sources from the participating agencies' savings and such other sources as may be identified for the initial funding. Subsequent funding shall be included in the budget preparation of each agency to be incorporated in the annual General Appropriations Bill.

SEC. 5. Implementing Rules - the PEENRA-SC is hereby directed to prepare and adopt guidelines to implement the specific provisions of this Executive Order.

SEC. 6. Affectivity. This order shall take effect immediately.

DONE in the city of Manila, this 21st day of March in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Ninety-seven.

(signed) FIDEL V. RAMOS
President of the Philippines

Executive Order No. 135

WHEREAS, the reliability, credibility, and comparability of data have significant bearing on policy and decision-making of the National Government and Local Government Units;

WHEREAS, the Philippine Statistical System (PSS) as defined in Executive Order No. 121, series of 1987, consists of a policy-making and coordinating body, a statistical research and training center, a general purpose statistical agency, and all departments, bureaus, offices, agencies, and instrumentalities of the national and local governments and all government-owned and controlled corporations and their subsidiaries that are engaged in statistical activities either and their primary function or as part of their administrative and regulatory functions;

WHEREAS, the coverage of the PSS cuts across all geographic subdivisions in order to ensure the proper determination of the over-all picture of the country;

WHEREAS, a new Local Government Code was signed into law on October 10, 1991;

WHEREAS, pursuant to the aforesaid code, powers and functions for the delivery of basic services were devolved to the local government units;

WHEREAS, inherent in the devolution of basic powers and functions would be the devolution of the generation of statistics for planning and decision-making;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FIDEL V. RAMOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby order:

SEC. 1. A well-coordinated statistical system at the local level that is: (1) responsive to planning and monitoring requirements at the local level; and (2) capable of producing statistics which can be integrated and harmonized with statistics being produced at the national level, shall be established.

SEC. 2. Overall Coordination of Statistical Matters

  1. The National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) shall, by virtue of its mandate under EO 121, remain as the central policy-making and coordinating body on all statistical matters at the national and local levels. All statistical policies formulated by the NSCB shall be implemented by all concerned agencies of the government, including the local government units.
  2. In each Region, the Regional Statistical Coordination Committee (RSCC), which has been created by the NSCB, shall serve as the link between the NSCB and local government units on statistical matters. Thus, all statistical activities of the LGUs shall be planned and implemented in coordination with the RSCCs. The NSCB shall establish its Regional Statistical Coordination Units in all regions to serve as the secretariat of the RSCCs.
  3. To foster an efficient statistical coordination, the RSCCs are given authority to act on statistical matters that concern only their region, province or city, municipality, and barangay. Statistical matters that are of national concern and/or may affect the other regions shall be elevated by the RSCC to the NSCB Central Office.
  4. The following statistical coordination mechanisms shall be implemented by the NSCB at the local levels. In areas where there are RSCCs already in place, the NSCB may delegate the implementation of these mechanisms to said committees. As such, all local government units are enjoined to comply.
    1. Preparation and Review of Statistical Calendar. Starting CY 1993, the provinces and cities shall submit to NSCB through the RSCCs for review and approval a Five-Year Statistical Calendar indicating what statistical activities are to be conducted, the objectives, data to be generated, and the expected time lag. The concerns of the municipalities and barangays shall be coursed through their mother provinces and municipalities, respectively. As one of the inputs in the preparation of the LGU calendars, the NSCB in coordination with major data users and producers, shall determine and provide the LGUs the types of subregional data which are and which could be made available from national statistical activities.
    2. Statistical Survey Review and Clearance System. For every statistical survey to be conducted by the LGUs, the responsible LGU shall submit, at least 90 days before the start of the scheduled field operations, the survey design and forms/questionnaires to the NSCB through the RSCCs. The NSCB shall conduct the review of the technical aspects of the statistical survey. As a notice of approval, a clearance number shall be issued. Said number shall be printed by the LGU in the survey questionnaires. Clearance shall be renewed every two years and/or everytime changes or revisions are to be made in the survey design or questionnaire.
    3. Review of Data Quality. The data generated by the LGUs shall be regularly reviewed by the RSCC in terms of their accuracy, consistency and timeliness as basis for recommending statistical improvements at the local level.

SEC. 3. Production of Local-Level Statistics

  1. The National Statistics Office (NSO) shall remain as the general purpose statistics producing agency. It shall provide, when feasible and when budget permits, the statistics required for local-level planning at the lowest disaggregation.
  2. The generation of provincial, city, municipal, and barangay statistics, which are by-products of administrative reporting systems inherent in administering the devolved basic services, shall be continued by the Local Government Units (LGUs) consistent with the manner, form and frequency being adopted by the concerned national line agencies.
  3. For the generation of other statistics with subnational disaggregation, the NSCB shall designate which of the statistics are to be generated by the national agencies or by the local government or jointly by the national and local governments.
  4. If the specific data required by the LGUs could not be made available from existing statistical activities of the national government, the generation of such statistics shall be done by the LGUs in coordination with the RSCCs.

SEC. 4. Consolidation of Data Produced by LGUs

  1. To ensure accuracy, consistency, and comparability of statistics among the LGUs, statistical concepts, definitions, techniques, and methodologies shall be formulated by the NSCB, thru the RSCCs, with due recognition of the conditions and needs at the local levels.
  2. Local data, which can be produced by LGUs to arrive at regional or national figures as may be determined by the NSCB, shall be consolidated by a national agency to be designated by the NSCB and to be incorporated into an official Data Base after being reviewed by the RSCCs. The designated national agency shall participate in the work of the RSCC in reviewing the consistency of statistics at various geographic levels and ensure that such data are included in its statistical compilations and publications in the manner and disaggregation recommended by the NSCB.
  3. In the regions, the National Statistical Coordination Board shall designate the agency/body that will maintain the one-stop-shop Data Base. All LGUs can have access to said Data Base. The LGUs are also enjoined to establish their own data bases in support of planning and programming activities at the local level.

SEC. 5. Provision of Technical Assistance

  1. The NSCB may, upon request of the LGUs and in coordination with the other national line agencies, deputize statistical personnel from its own personnel or of the other agencies to render technical assistance in the statistical operations of the LGUs. The LGUs shall, however, shoulder the payment of statistical service fee to the deputized personnel of the national agencies subject to the existing government rules and regulations.
  2. On the other hand, the LGUs may also be requested to provide assistance to national government agencies in gathering data of national concern. The national agencies shall likewise provide additional emoluments to the LGUs personnel utilized for their statistical activities, subject to existing rules and regulations of the national government.
  3. In order to build up the statistical capability of the LGUs, the NSCB, the Statistical Research and Training Center (SRTC), and the Local Government Academy (LGA) shall prepare and implement a statistical manpower development program for the LGUs.

SEC. 6. Guidelines on the Issuances of Certification of Population Sizes Pursuant to Section 7, 386, 442, 450, 452, and 461 of the New Local Government Code

  1. The National Statistics Office shall issue certification on data that it has collected and processed as well as on statistics that it has estimated.
  2. For census years, certification on population size will be based on actual population census counts; while for the intercensal years, the certification will be made on the basis of a set of demographic projections or estimations declared official by the National Statistical Coordination Board.
  3. Certification of population census counts will be made as of the census reference date, such as May 1, 1990, while those of intercensal population estimates will be made as of middle of every year.
  4. Certification of population size based on projections may specify the range within which the true count is deemed likely to fall. The range will correspond to the official low and high population projections.
  5. The smallest geographic area for which a certification on population size may be issued will be the barangay for census population counts, and the city or municipality for intercensal estimates. If an LGU wants to conduct its own population census, during off-census years, approval must be sought from the NSCB and the conduct must be under the technical supervision of NSO from planning to data processing.
  6. Certifications of population size based on published census results shall be issued by the Provincial Census Officers of by the Regional Census Officers. Certifications based on projections or estimates, however, will be issued by the NSO Administrator or his designated certifying officer.

SEC. 7. Transitory Provisions - The national agencies shall continue to administer the gathering and processing of the necessary local statistics on the basic services devolved to the LGUs, until the end of CY 1992, provided that, the personnel absorbed by the LGUs from these agencies, shall be utilized by the national line agencies in the gathering of raw data. Thereafter, the generation of these statistics shall be made by the LGUs in accordance with Section 2 (b) of these guidelines.

SEC. 8. In order to achieve the smooth implementation of the foregoing provisions, the NSCB together with the concerned national line agencies, shall conduct the necessary orientation trainings/seminars for the LGUs. The costs of these trainings/seminars shall come from the information campaign funds of the Local Government Academy.

SEC. 9. The National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) and the various Regional Statistical Coordination Committee (RSCC) shall see to it that the foregoing provisions are adequately and efficiently carried out.

SEC. 10. The NSCB shall be authorized to provide for any amendments to these guidelines.

SEC. 11. If, for any reason, any part or provision of this Executive Order shall be held unconstitutional or invalid, other parts or provisions hereof which are not affected thereby shall continue to be in full force and effect.

SEC. 12. This Executive Order shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 6th day of November in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and ninety three.

 

By the President:

 

(Signed)
TEOFISTO T. GUINGONA, JR.
Executive Secretary

Commonwealth Act No. 591

An act to create a Bureau of the Census and Statistics to consolidate statistical activities of the government therein.

Sec. 1. A Bureau of the Census and Statistic is created.

Sec. 2. The powers, functions, and duties of the Bureau of the Census and Statistics shall be as follows:

(a) To collect by enumeration, sampling or other methods, statistics and other information concerning population, agricultural conditions, the area and production of crops, the number of livestock, the production of livestock products, exports, imports, commerce, industrial and commercial enterprises, prices, employment wages, stocks of commodities, agricultural and other properties, social and economic institutions, and such other statistics as the President of the Philippines by executive order may direct;

(b) To compile and classify all such statistical date and information and to publish the same for the use of the Government and the people;

(c) To prepare for and undertake all censuses of population, agriculture, industry and commerce;

(d) To conduct, for statistical purposes, investigations and studies of social and economic problems and conditions;

(e) To compile and classify statistical and other data for other branches and dependencies of the Government, upon the approval of the President of the Philippines;

(f) To carry out and administer the provisions of Act Numbered Thirty-seven hundred and fifty-three, entitled 'An Act to Establish a Civil Register';

(g) To make and publish, from time to time, estimates of population, agricultural production, income, and number of livestock.

Sec. 3. The collection of data and information prescribed in section two may be secured by the mailing or delivery of the necessary questionnaire or form and explanatory matter to the persons best qualified to furnish such data or information and in which case the proprietor, official, Government official or employee, partner, director or legal representative to whom such questionnaire or form is mailed or delivered shall be required to accomplish such questionnaire or form personally or cause the same to be accomplished by his duly authorized agent or representative. Any person who fails or refuses to accomplish, mail or deliver such questionnaire or form received by him to the Bureau of the Census and Statistics within thirty days of its receipt by him; or any person who, in accomplishing any such questionnaire or form, knowingly gives data or information which shall prove to be materially untrue in any particular; or any person who signs such questionnaire or form after it has been accomplished in the knowledge that it is untrue in any particular shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not more than six hundred pesos or by imprisonment for not more than six months, or by both.

Sec. 4. Data furnished the Bureau of the Census and Statistics by an individual, corporation, partnership, institution or business enterprise shall not be used as evidence in any court or in any public office either as evidence for or against the individual, corporation, association, partnership, institution or business enterprise from whom such data emanates; nor shall such data or information be divulged to any person except authorized employees of the Bureau of the Census and Statistics, acting in the performance of their duties; nor shall such data be published except in the form of summaries or statistical tables in which no reference to an individual, corporation, association, partnership, institution or business enterprise shall appear. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not more than six hundred pesos or by imprisonment for not more than six months, or by both.

Sec. 5. The Bureau of the Census and Statistics shall be under the executive direction and supervision of the President of the Philippines. Such personnel as may be necessary for the proper and efficient performance of the duties prescribed by this Act shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines, upon the recommendation of the Director of the Bureau of the Census and Statistics, at such rates of salaries as may be fixed in accordance with Commonwealth Act Numbered Four hundred and two, entitled 'An Act to Provide for Classification of Civilian Positions and Standardization of Salaries in the Government.'SEACTH .

At any time after its organization, the President of the Philippines is authorized to place the Bureau of the Census and Statistics under the direct supervision and control of any of the executive departments.

Sec. 6. The Bureau of the Census and Statistics shall have one chief and one assistant chief, who shall be known respectively as the Director and Assistant Director of the Bureau of the Census and Statistics. The Director of the Bureau of the Census and Statistics shall receive the same compensation as that received by the directors of bureaus mentioned in sub-paragraph (4), subsection (a) of section five of Commonwealth Act Numbered Four hundred and two, and the Assistant Director of the Bureau of the Census and Statistics, the same compensation as that received by assistant directors of bureaus mentioned in sub-paragraph (5) of said subsection (a) of section five of the same Act. The Director and Assistant Director of the Bureau of the Census and Statistics shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines, with the consent of the Commission on Appointments of the National Assembly.

Sec. 7. The powers, functions, and duties of the Division of Statistics of the Department of Agriculture and Commerce, those of the Director of the National Library under the provision of Act Numbered Thirty-seven hundred fifty-three, and those of the Statistics Division of the Bureau of Customs, are transferred to the Bureau of the Census and Statistics.

Sec. 8. The President of the Philippines is authorized to transfer personnel, equipment, unexpended appropriations, if any, records, documents, supplies and other property from the Commission of the Census created by Commonwealth Act Numbered One hundred and seventy to the Bureau of the Census and Statistics, upon or prior to the completion of the census taken pursuant to the provisions of Commonwealth Act Numbered One hundred and seventy.

Sec. 9. The President of the Philippines is authorized until June thirty, nineteen hundred and forty-one, the provisions of existing laws to the contrary notwithstanding, to transfer by executive order the functions, appropriations, equipment, property, records, and personnel of any bureau, office or part thereof, engaged in the collection, compilation, and publication of statistics from the different executive departments, bureaus and offices to the Bureau of the Census and Statistics, when, in his judgment, greater economy, efficiency and accuracy in the collection, compilation, and publication of statistics can be accomplished thereby. SEACTH

Any action taken by the President pursuant to this authority shall be reported by him to the National Assembly at the next regular session thereof and shall be valid and subsisting until the National Assembly shall provide otherwise.

Sec. 10. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved: August 19, 1940