NSO prepares for 2010 census

CEBU, Philippines – The National Statistics Office in Central Visayas has started preparing for the census to be conducted in May next year.

NSO has begun coordinating with the local government units for the creation of the Municipal Census Team, which will make the population survey under the supervision of the NSO regional office.

It encourages the public to support and participate in next year’s census as it is “very much vital in the formation of policies and the implementation of programs of the government.”

NSO-7 head statistician Edwina Carriaga said that census determines essential facts about the population which are often made as bases in the creation of certain policies and programs by the lawmakers and the rest of the members of the governing bodies.

Even non-government organizations and private sectors depend on the census for their programs and other functions.

Carriaga said that basic information that the census attempts to get are the total number of the people residing in the country, the population by gender, on education, ethnicity, the number of registered persons in the civil registry office, on the housing materials and style, and occupation among many others.

She said that from their past experience, they have a hard time entering villages and high-end subdivisions which make some details undercounted.

Carriaga said that the central office has started working on the questionnaire to be used in the conduct of the census. NSO-7, while waiting for the questionnaire and instructions from Manila, has started preparing the public to gain maximum support next year.

From the latest Census of Population conducted by the NSO, Philippine population reached 88,574, 614 as of August 1, 2007.

Cebu province comprised 2.44 million people, excluding the population of its three highly urbanized cities - Mandaue, Cebu, and Lapu-Lapu.

The population of the country based on the 2000 Census of Population and Housing was 76.5 million while it was recorded at 68.62 million in 1995.

From 2000 to 2007, there was an average of 2.04 percent annual population growth rate which is the lowest growth rate ever recorded. 

NSO projected population in 2010 to reach around 93 million. — Jessica Ann R. Pareja/MEEV (THE FREEMAN)