Households in Aklan urged to respond in census, CBMS data collection

The Census of Population is a nationwide government undertaking that aims to take an inventory of the total population, while the CBMS gathers data from households that will serve as a basis for government poverty alleviation programs.

According to Engr. Antonet Catubuan, Chief Statistical Specialist, the data provided by households are crucial in generating quality statistics that will guide the government in crafting development programs and making registries for targeting beneficiaries of various social protection initiatives.

“We are appealing to everyone to accommodate our enumerators deployed in each barangay and provide them with truthful and accurate answers to all questions so that we can gather and compile quality data that are reflective of our current situation,” Engr. Catubuan said.

The chief statistical specialist emphasized that this census is critical because all development programs and plans of the government for the next four to five years will be anchored on this data until the next census and CBMS are conducted again.

“If we do not cooperate and participate in this current data gathering, it will greatly affect our socio-economic development, not only for our community but also our individual well-being,” Engr. Catubuan added.

The population census is conducted every five years, as mandated by Republic Act 10625, which requires everyone to respond.

On the other hand, the CBMS is authorized by RA 11315 and is being administered on a voluntary basis, where the consent of respondents is needed before data collection can begin.

Data from this activity will be used to allocate revenues, resources, and infrastructure; identify beneficiaries for social development programs; compute the shares of local government units (LGUs) in National Tax Allocation; and create administrative units and redistrict congressional seats.

The PSA assures that the data collected in this census will be held with utmost confidentiality and is considered privileged communication, which cannot be used in taxation or any legal proceedings.

However, households that refuse to respond particularly to the census may face legal sanctions under the law.

The PSA aims to complete the enumeration before September 16 and release the official count by the end of the year.