nso regional data dissemination forum for 2009 fies attended by cdo’s multi-sectoral representatives

NSO REGIONAL DATA DISSEMINATION FORUM FOR 2009 FIES ATTENDED BY CDO’S MULTI-SECTORAL REPRESENTATIVES

Line agencies, Academe, LGU’s, Private sectors, the Tri-Media among others attended the Regional Data dissemination forum for the 2009 Family Income and Expenditure survey result held at the  Grand Caprice Restaurant on June 22, 2011. 

The 2009 FIES is a nationwide survey of households by the National Statistics Office, first conducted in 1957 but undertaken every three years since 1985. It is the main source of data on family income and expenditure, which include levels of consumption by item of expenditure as well as sources of income in cash and in kind. The results of FIES provide information on the levels of living and disparities in income of Filipino families, as well as their spending patterns.

2009 FIES survey result in Region 10 – Northern Mindanao, with a total of 839, 000 families earning an income of 138,256,000 and expenditure totaling 116,690,000.

NSO Administrator Hon, Carmelita N. Ericta (photo: center) delivered the Keynote Address. NSO Regional Director Dr. Salvador A. Aves (left) opened the Forum with a welcome message, while Regional Director for Asia Hon. Tomas P. Africa (right), delivered some data on the Family Income Distribution in the Philippines, 1985-2009 of which Director Africa said that the good news is that the income distribution is not worsened but the bad news is it has remained essentially the same. 

 In summation, Director Africa said there is an utter lack of information on distribution of family income which the government, particularly the NSO and the statistical system, need to address.   Perhaps one of reasons why the distribution has generally remained unchanged is because even if many think that this is so, there has been insufficient empirical evidence to establish its extent and chronicity. I also urge the National Statistics Coordination Board  

(NSCB) to come up with an official definition of the often-used ABCDE socio-economic classification & the ‘generic’ low-middle-high income classes in cooperation with academe and private sector.  Many policy and decision-makers & the general public have accepted & used these rather than deciles, quintiles and percentiles.  These can also help improve statistical literacy of society, in this case understanding income distribution.

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