Ferliza C. Contratista
CEBU CITY, June 18 (PIA) – The Philippine
Statistics Authority (PSA) is urging the public to cooperate in the
conduct of the Census of Population (POPCEN 2015) which is set to start on
August 1, 2015.
Noel Rafols, PSA-7 information
officer, said the public should support POPCEN
2015 as this is an essential tool for government planning.
“We urge them to welcome the
enumerators into their households and give truthful and accurate answers,”
Rafols said.
According to Rafols, the interview will
last for 15 to 20 minutes depending on the pace of the respondents in
answering the questions.
The collected data will not be used
against anyone as they will be penalized if they divulge personal information
gathered during the census.
“There is confidentiality as we will
suffer penalties in accordance to Republic Act 10625 or the Philippine
Statistical Act 2013,” he said.
POPCEN 2015 is a paper and pen survey
of every household across the country.
Results will be manually tallied, reviewed,
and processed and is estimated to be done before the election next
year.
Firmo Diputado, Cebu provincial
statistics officer , added that POPCEN 2015 aims to update the population
data and other basic information like number of family members in a
household, number of male and female, marital status, current job, and
education attainment.
“Data population of the residents from
different barangays, municipalities and cities need to be done to get
track of the information needed in the government and to get the exact number
of the Filipinos now,” he said.
Additional data to be gathered this
year include religion, persons with disabilities, housing characteristics,
and sources of water supply for cooking and drinking.
The census will also include the
informal settlers. (rmn/fcc/PIA7-Cebu with reports from Lea Jane M.
Villanueva, PIT AB Comm)