| NSO
ready for nationwide census of population
...enjoins every household to participate
2007 POPCEN'
In less than
two months, the National Statistics Office
(NSO), the major statistical agency of the
government, will begin counting the country's
populace.
Beginning AUGUST
1, about 37,000 NSO trained census-takers
(enumerators), over 7,000 team supervisors,
and almost 2,000 census area supervisors
will augment the NSO field staff in the
nationwide conduct of the 2007 Census of
Population (POPCEN 2007) to make a complete
count of all residents, both Filipinos and
foreigners, who have stayed or are expected
to stay for at least a year in the Philippines.
Enumerators
wearing official POPCEN 2007 IDs will visit
and interview every household to ask basic
information about the number of people residing
within the house including their ages, sex,
marital status, education, and other demographic,
social and economic characteristics. The
interview will take about 15 to 30 minutes.
"POPCEN
2007 aims to provide accurate and timely
statistics on our country's population at
the smallest geographic area possible,"
said NSO Administrator Carmelita N. Ericta.
She added that while the agency has the
capability and technical expertise to do
the job, she underscored the important role
of the entire nation in the successful conduct
of the census.
"Census-taking
is a gigantic task. We are once again calling
for and counting on the cooperation of everyone
to please allow our authorized census enumerators
to take a few minutes of your time for the
POPCEN 2007 interview. We are also calling
on the support of our partners from both
the government and the private sectors,
national and local officials, non-government
organizations, religious and educational
institutions to make this nationwide data-gathering
activity a success." She also emphasized
that Section 4 of Commonwealth Act No. 591
guarantees that any information obtained
during the census enumeration shall be held
strictly confidential.
The first official
census in the Philippines was carried out
in 1878 by the colonial Spanish government.
Said census yielded a count of 5,567,685
persons living in the archipelago as of
December 31, 1877. In the last census of
its kind in the country conducted in May
2000, the country's population was placed
at 76.5 million.
Updated information
on the size of the population will provide
government planners, policy makers and administrators
with data on which to base their social
and economic development plans and program.
It also serves, as basis for 1) Internal
Revenue Allotment for the local government
units (LGUs); 2) apportionment of congressional
seats for the legislative branch; 3) creation
of new LGUs, i.e., provinces, cities, municipalities
and barangays; and 4) conversion of a unit
to higher level such as from a municipality
into a city, among others. Businesses and
industries use the statistical information
from the census in determining 1) sites
for establishing businesses; 2) consumer
demands for various goods and services;
and 3) supply of labor for the production
of goods and services.
Population
counts by province, city, municipality,
and barangay are targeted for release by
the NSO on February 28, 2008. Upon proclamation
by the President of the Philippines, said
population count shall be considered final
and official for all purposes. POPCEN 2007
data will be made available in printed volumes
and compact discs.
(Sgd.) CARMELITA N. ERICTA
Administrator |
