The theme of this year's Annual Budget Analysis Series is "Deficit in revenues leading to a deficit in services," reflective of the two studies contained in this issue, one on the President's Budget for 2003 and another on meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set by the United Nations. Both studies point to the scarcity of government resources in providing for the Filipinos' basic needs and attaining benchmarks toward an improved human existence. This issue highlights the country's fiscal problem as a result of flaws from the revenue side because of the government's declining tax effort since 1997. It then hopes to contribute to the clearcut exposition of our present fiscal situation so that definitive efforts and policies that would address the dilemma that we are in may be discussed and formulated.