Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 27) — It’s all systems go for over 113,000 field staff of the Philippine Statistics Authority as the 2020 census starts next week.
National Statistician Dennis Mapa said 113,364 data enumerators, as well as over 22,000 supervisors have been hired to visit homes for the census of population and housing starting September 1.
The last census was done in 2015, which counted 100.98 million Filipinos. The current population estimate is at 108.8 million, with 54.9 million of them males and 53.9 million females.
The census was supposed to start in May but had to be postponed due to strict lockdowns. Still, May 1 will be used as the reference date when families are interviewed regarding the number of people living with them, alongside other details.
Mapa said data enumerators have been trained to follow strict health protocols and are required to wear masks, face shields, and to keep a safe distance when interviewing residents for an estimated 15-30 minutes.
“May mga barangay na high-risk pa ngayon. Ang aming strategy is iiwasan muna namin ‘yung mga areas na ‘yan and doon kami sa mga areas na walang problema saka babalikan na lang namin [There are still high-risk barangays. Our strategy is we will skip those areas and proceed to places which do not have issues right now, and then we’ll go back],” Mapa said.
He added that families can tell the enumerator who will visit their home to answer the 8-page questionnaire by themselves or be interviewed through a phone call or an online form to limit physical interactions.
The PSA tapped actress Sarah Geronimo as the face of the population census, which would provide updated data for the use of government and policymakers. A census requires that all Filipinos be accounted for in the tally, including overseas workers. It clarified that the census cannot be used to carry out contact tracing.
Mapa hopes to finish the census and release the latest population tally by April or May 2021, but said delays are expected given the COVID-19 crisis. He added that deployment will be done a week later in Jolo, Sulu due to the recent bombings as well as in Masbate, where residents are still reeling from the strong earthquake that hit last week.
READ: Census cannot be used for contact tracing – NEDA chief
