Philippine Statistics Authority

 

 

With the increased demand for environmental information brought about by accelerated growth in the economy and its effect on the environment, the Philippines had to adopt the strategy of sustainable development and growth with equity, bringing to fore the need for environment statistics. To address this concern, the Philippines embarked on a project to develop the Philippine Framework for the Development of Environment Statistics (PFDES) which was based on the 1984 United Nations Framework for the Development of Environment Statistics (FDES). The PFDES provided a systematic approach to the development and organization of environment statistics in such a way as to be more useful in the formulation and valuation of socio-economic and environmental programs and policies.

 

Through this project, the Philippines came out with the first edition of the Compendium of Philippine Environment Statistics (CPES) in 2000. The compendium is a compilation of statistical information collected from data produced by various government agencies. Following the PFDES, the compiled statistics were organized focusing on the six main components of the environment, namely, flora, fauna, atmosphere, water, land, minerals and energy, and human settlements. The CPES was subsequently published biennially until 2008. From then on, a database on environment statistics vis-à-vis the framework was maintained, albeit incomplete, due to insufficient resources.

 

In 2013, with the enactment of Republic Act No. 10625, otherwise known as the Philippine Statistical Act of 2013, the Philippine Statistical Authority (PSA) was established. The Law mandates the PSA to compile environment statistics and environmental accounts and thus established a unit dedicated for the task.

 

 

With the environment unit in place, the PSA through the locally funded Philippine Economic-Environment and Natural Resources Accounting (PEENRA) Project embarked on updating the CPES based on the UN FDES 2013. PSA released the 2014 Compendium of Philippine Environment Statistics (CPES) in June 2015.3 The 2014 CPES focused on the Core Set of Statistics (Tier 1) as recommended by the FDES 2013 - Final Draft (2013). Out of the 107 identified core statistics and and indicators from the six components, a total of 71 statistical indicators were compiled.