The 2024 Population Census-Community-Based Monitoring System (PopCen-CBMS) of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in Negros Oriental has been extended after several enumerators backed out, an official said Oct. 17.
Engr. Ariel Fortuito, PSA-Negros Oriental chief statistical specialist and provincial head, told the Philippine News Agency in an interview that the Sept. 15 national deadline was extended after they failed to meet their target.
Fortuito said they have, so far, reached 80 percent and expected to complete it by the end of October.
“Currently, we have about an 80 percent accomplishment already and we hope to complete the census by the end of October,” he said.
He added that the biggest challenge they faced was that several enumerators backed out while the program was underway for a variety of reasons.
He said some enumerators were students and had to juggle their time between school and fieldwork.
Fortuito said these individuals did not say they were students when they applied for the job.
Other enumerators were also from business process outsourcing companies that mostly had night shifts, which impeded their daytime assignments, he said.
However, he did not give specific numbers.
The PSA in Negros Oriental had to hire new and additional enumerators that they had to train first before fielding them, he explained.
Fortuito is optimistic that they will be able to complete the PopCen-CBMS in the province in the next few weeks as the PSA is required to submit all data to the national office before the end of the year.
The PSA official, meanwhile, said the province’s inflation rate eased at 1.5 percent in September, the lowest since January this year.
Fortuito attributed the slowing down of inflation to the drop in prices of food and similar commodities. “The major driver of the inflation decline is the food commodity group with prices lowered last month.”
The average inflation rate of the province from Jan. to Sept. was 3.9 percent.
In September 2023, the inflation rate was at 7.1 percent.
The major commodity groups that contributed to lower inflation last month were food and non-alcoholic beverages, with a 70.1 percent share; transport, 22.4 percent, and restaurants and accommodation services, 4.9 percent, the PSA said.
In the food groups, rice dropped from 17 percent in August to 5.9 percent in September; meat and other parts of slaughtered land animals, from 12.5 percent to 8.8 percent; and milk, other dairy products, and eggs, from 0.4 percent to 0.3 percent.
Other commodity groups that showed a decline in inflation were personal care and miscellaneous goods and services; education services; clothing and footwear; health; and recreation, sports, and culture.
Housing, water, gas, electricity, and other fuels, meanwhile, rose to two percent from 1.5 percent in August.
Commodity groups with constant inflation include financial services; information and communication; and furnishings, and household equipment and routine household maintenance. ||
