The Philippine Statistics Authority will conduct census and Community-Based Monitoring System starting July 15. National Statistician Usec. Dennis Mapa appealed for the public’s participation to update the country’s population count.

MANILA -- The Philippine Statistics Authority will kick off the 2024 Population Census (POPCEN) on July 15, the statistics bureau announced on Tuesday. 

PSA National Statistician Undersecretary Claire Dennis Mapa said the conduct of the POPCEN aims to update the population count of the country. The last census done in 2020 showed the Philippines has a population of 109 million. 

Aside from the census, PSA will simultaneously conduct Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) to collect socio-economic information related to education, health, and living conditions of communities to be used as basis for government policies and programs. 

Updating of the 'Listahanan', or the database of poor families used by the Department of Social and Welfare Development, is one of the reasons behind the integration of CBMS to the census. 

“Ang Listahanan, ginawa noong 2019. So kailangan talaga nating i-update ang ating list so there was an order from the President (Marcos) to update the list via CBMS,” Mapa said. 

PSA encouraged the public to participate as the census and CBMS will be used for effective planning resource allocation, and establishing development programs to address the needs of vulnerable populations. Mapa highlighted that the census will also be used for crisis-management plans just like how it was utilized for the distribution of social welfare assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some 70,000 enumerators will be deployed nationwide for statistics gathering from Mondays to Saturdays. 

Accomplishing the questionnaires for POPCEN-CBMS will take around 45 minutes to an hour, but the PSA asked for the public’s active participation. Refusal to participate in the census is punishable under the law.

For CBMS, data subjects will have to accomplish a data consent form if they are willing to participate. The PSA assured that all data collected will be confidential.

“We are asking for cooperation. While ito ay 45 minutes, konting abala, but we hope na ‘yong household head magparticipate,” Mapa said. 

Mapa also advised the public to be vigilant against bad actors that may use the census for fraud or for stealing sensitive information.

Official PSA enumerators will always wear their uniforms with PSA logo and ID indicating their their name and designation. Enumerators will not ask for confidential information such as details of bank accounts and One-Time-Pin.

“Bagamat kasama sa tanong kung merong formal account, hindi kukunin ang bank accounts o OTP,” Mapa said. 

Mapa also reminded that no services of PSA shall be offered during the conduct of surveys and no fees shall be collected. IDs of data subjects will likewise not be asked to be presented.

Mapa said the PSA is expected to finalize the updated population count within the year. A total of P5.2 billion has been allocated for the conduct of 2024 POPCEN-CBMS.

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