ULAP urges LGUs to support 2024 census, monitoring system

MANILA: Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines president, Quirino Governor Dax Cua, on Friday urged his fellow local leaders to support the conduct of the 2024 Population Census and Community-Based Monitoring System (2024 POPCEN-CBMS), which begins July 15. 'The 2024 POPCEN-CBMS is an important undertaking, and local government units (LGUs) should do their part in ensuring that it is effectively conducted in the communities that they supervise,' Cua said in a news release. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. declared July 2024 as 'National Census and Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) Month' through Proclamation 627. Through it, he tasked concerned government agencies and instrumentalities to support the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in conducting its nationwide population census (Popcen) and the CBMS from July to September. The government is mandated by Executive Order 352 to conduct the Popcen every five years. Meanwhile, Republic Act 11315, or the CBMS Act of 2019, calls for the dat a collection for the CBMS by every city and municipality in the country every three years. Cua underscored the need for proper data collection and synthesis to help the government have a clearer picture of the country's socio-economic status. 'We use the census and CBMS to craft our poverty alleviation and social protection strategies, so we need to ensure that the data we collect is as comprehensive and accurate as possible,' he added. Cua also urged Filipinos to cooperate with census data gatherers. 'Batid po natin na may pangamba na baka pagsamantalahan ng mga kriminal ang census. Ngunit lehitimo po itong aktibidad, at kailangan lang na maging mapagmatyag tayo. Naka-ID at uniform po ang mga PSA enumerators, at hindi po sila hihingi ng mga confidential information gaya ng bank account at one-time pin (We know that there is fear that criminals might exploit the census. But this is a legitimate activity, and we just need to be vigilant. PSA enumerators wear IDs and uniforms, and they will not ask for conf idential information, such as bank accounts and one-time pins),' he said. Source: Philippines News Agency