_TION
AND PROSPEC_ FORRI_K)NAL
When the NDS was implemented, the CDC was replaced b r the "notice of cash allocation" (NCA). Unlike the previous scheme, the _ICA is issued directly by the DBM to the regional offices/units of na [onal government agencies to ensure that funds allocated to the regiox _ are actually received by them. Analysis
of Regional
Distribution
of Government
Expenditures
The Commission on Audit (COA) records regional distribution of national and local government expenditures on an obligation basi_. The Commission lumps both the allotment to the central office of agencies with no regional offices, and those with regional offices but for some reason do not receive their expenditure obligations on a regional basis, underI"government expenditures" in the NCR (where the central offices are u_ually located). On the other hand, the National Accounts Staff of the N_tional Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) combines (a) information_n the regional allotments of expenditures of agencies (which have regiona_ units that receive their funding at the central office) obtained from the DBI_, and (b) the COA data to arrive at the distribution of government outlay_based on where they are spent. Thus, while the COA data include outlays to both the departments with no regional offices and to the regions through the central office of departments with regional offices under the NCR, the NSCB dath only include outlays directed toward the former group; The national income accounts may be more appropriate if government expenditures are viewed solely as a component of aggregate demand. However, it should be noted that the expenditures of agencies with no regional offices like the Office of the President, the Departments of National Defense, Justice, Tc_urism, Foreign Affairs, and others, benefit the other regions outside the I_CR. Against this backdrop, this section considers two types of r_gional government expenditures: direct and indirect. Outlays of government agencies with no regional allotments constitute indirect regional ex_nditures and are assigned to the various regions based on allocation ratios. Expenditures on agencies providing economic services are distributed based on the contribution of the region to national gross value added. On /he other hand, expenditures of agencies providing social services will be allocated based onthe region's share to total population. Finally, outlays of agencies providing general administration services will be distributed based on the average of the first two allocators. The change in the regional distribution of government expenditures during the periods 1977-1979, 1983-1985, and 1987 is reviewed _iinthis section. This, therefore, calls for a bias index which will measure govern160