BANGUED, Abra (PIA) – The Philippine Statistics Authority in the province is gearing up for the Census of Population (PopCen) and Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) surveys that will be simultaneously rolled-out on July 15 until September 15.
A total of 373 data enumerators, supervisors, and reserved enumerators are undergoing the municipal level Household Data Collection and Geotagging training for the implementation of the province-wide surveys.
PSA-Abra Supervising Statistical Specialist Jaeriel Bersamina shared that the five-day training is divided into batches scheduled on July 1-6 for the first batch, and July 8-13 for the second batch.
“The training focuses on their functions as enumerators, geo tagging, and collecting data from respondents using the tablets instead of the traditional pen and paper,” he said.
Bersamina said that a total of 298 tablets and power banks were distributed to the enumerators assigned to the different municipalities of the province.
“Ti idea is habang madama ti survey is sabay na napro-process yung data sa processing center natin. The data is also cleaned and reviewed in the provincial, regional, and national data processing centers,” he explained.
With the 27 municipalities and more than 300 barangays in the province, Bersamina shared that the office is expecting around 250,000 data to be processed.
In terms of transferring the collected data to the processing centers, he said that the PSA has coordinated with the different local government units through the Municipal CBMS Coordinating Board, for assistance when it comes to connectivity.
Meanwhile, Information Systems Analyst Zaniatha Rigor assured that the data gathered are protected, especially with the digitalization of both surveys.
“Mayroon tayong open VPN na hindi nakaka-connect sa application without an account and the tablets are configured for the CBSM and PopCen only, ibig sabihin hindi ka makaka-download and install ng applications aside from the one that we use for the surveys,” she shared.
The PopCen and the CBMS are surveys that the PSA conducts to serve as baseline for government fund allocation and as guide for programs and policies, especially at the local level.
PopCen, which is conducted every five years, and the CBMS implemented every three years, will be simultaneously held this year because of the need to update the population count and the list of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program beneficiaries, and for the social protection programs of the government. (JJPM-PIA CAR, Abra)
