Data users have been effectively accessing pertinent data from respective data generators, but the changing times and demands of globalization and innovation in communication pose a challenge to our system of data collection. Hence, it is important for development planners to know whether the systems involved in the formulation of policies and programs, such as the system of primary data collection, are responsive to our changing needs or not. Such was the need for the creation of a Special Committee to review the Philippine Statistical System (PSS), which was tasked specifically to review and assess the PSS in terms of its structure, mandates, resources, products, and services. The Committee's recommendation that primary data collection should be consolidated under a single agency is the focus of this month`s issue of the DRN.
Also featured in this issue is a study that backs the call for the retention of legal and dismantling of illegal fishpens and fishcages in Laguna de Bay, and the streamlining of operations to curb the rapid deterioration of the lake. Another inside feature looks into the efficiency of the Philippine commercial banking sector.
