The National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) said that the other provinces in the top five ranking were Cavite with P6,753.5 million, Cebu with P6,455.2 million, Davao del Sur with P3,882.6 million and Quezon with P3,561.6 million.

The province of Laguna has been number one in BIR revenue collection for three consecutive years (2003-2005).

Meanwhile, the province of Benguet posted the highest growth rate in BIR revenue collection from 2004 to 2005 at 88.7 percent followed by Aklan 61.9 percent, Pangasinan 60.3 percent, Antique 48.2 percent and Quirino 42.8 percent.

In terms of Palay production, the province of Nueva Ecija has remained the top palay producing province in the country for four years from 2002 to 2005.

Nueva Ecija also posted the highest increase in chicken inventory with 98.5 percent in 2005.

As of December 2005, Bohol and Cebu provinces had the most number of municipalities in the Philippines with 47 each while Iloilo had the most number of barangays with 1,901.

These and more information on the performance of the country’s provinces based on various indicators can be found in the 2005 Philippine Countryside in Figures (PCIF) released recently by the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB).

The PCIF is one of the responses of the NSCB to clamor from various stakeholders including investors and research analysts for more provincial data.

The 2005 edition of the PCIF describes the state of the country’s 79 provinces in terms of various indicators on governance, income and expenditures, labor and employment, prices, finance, agriculture, health, education, communication, infrastructure, tourism, transportation, energy and public order, safety and justice.

The provinces/cities have been ranked according to these indicators; hence it can be used as a reference for comparing the performance of our provinces and key cities in different areas of interest.