Cagayan De Oro City Representative Rufus Rodriguez called on the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) to postpone its 2020 population and housing census to January next year amid the ongoing threat of COVID-19.
Rodriguez's proposal is covered in House Resolution 1186, which he filed on September 3 but was only released to the media on Tuesday.
According to the resolution, the PSA hired 113,364 data enumerators and 22,000 supervisors to visit houses.
“While the agency has given assurances that these personnel have been trained to follow strict health protocols like wearing masks and face shields and to keep a safe distance when interviewing residents for an estimated 15-30 minutes, there are still risks not only for the interviewees but interviewers and data enumerators as well,” Rodriguez said.
There will be face-to-face interviews “and the possibility of infection is still there,” he added.
The PSA last month appealed to the public to cooperate with the data collection for the 2020 census, as it assured that enumerators will follow physical distancing measures.
National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa said enumerators were to start data gathering on September 1.
The PSA also urged residents of condominiums and exclusive subdivisions to participate in the 2020 census through the online portal, video calls, phone calls, or through a questionnaire that can be obtained from the barangay hall.
'Not appropriate time'
Although Rodriguez recognizes the importance of population survey results as a guide in development planning and policy making at the national and local levels, he said "this period when we are battling a pandemic is not the most appropriate time to conduct the census."
He said conducting the survey this year or while there is still a health crisis would only put people and PSA workers at risk.
"We are still getting daily positive cases in the thousands, though the Department of Health is reporting that the numbers are going down,” he added.
At the same time, Rodriguez also slammed the PSA for its statement warning those who refuse to participate in the census that they could face a penalty of one-year imprisonment and a fine of P100,000.
“Such threat amid the pandemic is uncalled for and inappropriate. What we need is, as far as practicable, fewer people in the streets and outside their homes to help contain the spread of Covid-19,” he said.
He said delaying the census for a few months or until there is a vaccine against COVID-19 would not adversely affect the development planning and policy making of national and local government agencies.
“They can in the meantime rely on historical data with some adjustments,” he added.
The census was supposed to have been started last May, but the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) and PSA recommended it be moved back to September due to the pandemic.
In March this year, President Rodrigo Duterte asked the public to cooperate in the 2020 census of population and housing.
NEDA chief Karl Kendrick Chua said the census cannot be used for contact tracing of COVID-19 cases. —KG, GMA News
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