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The Philippine Statistics Authority is asking the participation of the public in the upcoming 2020 census of population and housing which will be conducted in September.

"The census could have been conducted last May. But we said it's better to postpone it given the conditions that we have now," said PSA's deputy national statistician Minette Esquivas during a press conference held recently.

To ensure the safety of the interview that PSA enumerators will be conducting, Esquivas said, "We sought advice from different agencies in the government, in particular the IATF [COVID-19 Inter-Agency Task Force], and PSA was actually given an exemption to do the data collection.

"Yung mga preparation natin for that, since this is an unforseen event to begin with, we followed the advice of the IATF to have the minimum health protocols by using the facemask during the interview.

"We'll also use alcohol as disinfectant during training as well as during interview.

"Each of the interviewer will have their own supplies with them.

"Plus, mayroon din silang sabon kasi, alam mo naman sa field, wala ka sa sariling bahay, so dapat dala-dala nila."

The PSA official also mentioned that they followed safety protocols during the trainings of their enumerators.

"Sa training, nagkaroon kami ng virtual training kung hindi maaaring ganapin yung training na physical setup.

"Pero sa training, kung physical naman, 'di ba, iniiwasan natin ang large gatherings, maliit lang ho ang class size.

"We are supposed to maintain physical distance for each of the participant," she said.

Safety is also their primary concern on the actual conduction of census interview in September.

Esquivas explained, "Sa interview naman sa bawat household, kailangan mayroon kaming regulation na physical distancing.

"Hindi sila pwedeng makipag-usap nang malapitan. Ngayon, dahil bahay-bahay po ito, nagkaroon din kami ng alternative methods sa interview.

"Dahil mag-iikot-ikot sila, hihingin po namin ang mga telepon at e-mail addresses kung ayaw nilang magpa-interview nang face-to-face.

"So, kung telepono ang gusto nilang interview, tatawagan sila ng enumerator para tanungin ang mga katanungan sa census.

"Kung e-mail naman, bibigyan sila ng access para sa web-based or online set of questions."

More enumerators needed

Meanwhile, PSA's population and housing division chief Joseph Cajita mentioned that their office is still accepting applications for enumerators.

"Bukas pa po ang mga application ngayon para sa enumerators lalo na rito sa National Capital Region.

"Kung mangyari lamang ay makipag-ugnayan sa regional office dito sa Quezon City. Ang ginagawa ng enumerator, sila yung nagbabahay-bahay and nagko-conduct ng physical interview."

To give a brief description on what the enumerators would do, Cajita said, "Sila ay nakasuot ng face mask, may ID to indentify themselves as PSA enumerators, dala-dala nila yung mga questionnaire sa pag-i-interview. It will take around 15 minutes.

"Then, pagkatapos po niyan, ia-update lang po nila yung ating listing form.

"At the end of the day, iko-consolidate nila yun and then ire-report na sa kanilang respective team supervisors.

"Ganun lang po kasimple ang ginagawa ng enumerator."

Due to COVID-19 pandemic, Cajita admitted that the 2020 census for population and housing will be more difficult for the enumerators.

"Mahirap din ang kanyang gagawin dahil siya ang pupunta sa mga bahay-bahay," he said.

However, he reiterated, "Dahil mayroon tayong pandemic, io-observe natin 'yung minimum public health standards."

The census for population and housing is conducted in the country every 10 years.

It involves the collection, compilation, evaluation, analysis, publication, and dissemination of data on population count, demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the population, housing characteristics, household characteristics, and barangay characteristics in each barangay, city/municipality, province and region in the country.

The census also aims to provide government executives, policy makers, and planners with population and housing data on which to base their social and economic development plans, policies and programs.