Page 323 - Special Topic Session (STS) - Volume 4

STS700 Candigo J. A., Jr. et al.
classified as Tier I (indicators with established methodology , regularly
collected), 72 as Tier II (with established methodology, data not regularly
collected), 62 as Tier III (no established methodology, methodologies are
being developed/tested) and 5 as multi-tier ((different components of the
indicator, i.e., numerator and denominator, are classified into different tiers)
One of the indicators which is classified as Tier II is SDG 9.1.1. – “Proportion
of the rural population who live within 2 km of an all-season road“. This
indicator measures the share of a country’s rural population that lives within 2
kilometers of an all-season road or are within an approximate walking distance
of two kilometers (around 20-25 minute walk) from an all-season road.
Considered as priority statistical development programs as stipulated in
the Philippine Statistical Development Program 2018-2023, the Philippine
Statistical System through the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) spearheads
some of the methodological work in addressing Tier II and Tier III indicators.
Recently, a technical assistance from the Asian Development Bank enabled the
PSA to estimate SDG 9.1.1 using the initial efforts done by the World Bank.
This paper attempts to come up with measures of SDG 9.1.1, that is, to
come up with an estimate of the proportion of rural population of the
Philippines which live within two kilometres from an all-season road.
Technically referred to as Rural Access Index, SDG 9.1.1 will enable
policymakers to identify and manage investments in road sector and to
formulate rural transport programs and strategies to boost agricultural growth
and reduce poverty, particularly in rural areas.

2. Methodology
The methodology used in the computation of the Rural Access Index is
based on the initial work of the World Bank . The software QGIS was used
2
1
in all steps of the methodology involving maps. Source of data include the
PSA (administrative maps with boundaries, urban-rural classification of levels
of government, and digitized road network), and the WorldPop (high-
resolution gridded population distribution map for 2015). Meanwhile, all
computer operations were performed using the open-source QGIS software.

Basically, the methodology is divided into three parts:
Part 1 – Estimating the Rural Population
1. Obtain an administrative map with barangay boundaries.
2. From the map, identify the urban barangays. Barangay is the lowest
level of administration in the Philippines, i.e., National, Regional,
Provincial, City, Municipal and Barangay levels. Barangays are the only

1 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/3673914721178152 29/Measuring-rural-access-using-
new-technologies
2 http://www.qgis.org
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