The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) included 127 homeless individuals in Bacolod City in the total population count under the 2024 Census of Population-Community-Based Monitoring System (POPCEN-CBMS).
The midnight census conducted by two teams of enumerators on Sept. 12 surveyed 91 males and 36 females staying on the sidewalks around the city.
“We also conduct census for the homeless since everyone should be counted. They are also part of the country’s population,” Diesah Biaoco, supervising statistical specialist of PSA-Negros Occidental, said in an interview on Tuesday.
Two teams of enumerators were deployed with the assistance of the Bacolod City Police Office Mobile Patrol Unit.
The first team covered the areas along the Bacolod City public plaza and the San Sebastian Cathedral, as well as those on Rizal, Locsin, Luzuriaga, Araneta, Libertad, and Lopez-Jaena Sts., and Lizares and Magsaysay Avenues.
The second team was assigned to cover areas along the Bacolod City Government Center, provincial capitol lagoon and park, Circumferential Road, B.S. Aquino Drive, and San Juan, Gatuslao, Gonzaga, and Mabini Streets.
In a statement, PSA-Negros Occidental chief statistical specialist John Campomanes said all information collected during the POPCEN-CBMS will be treated with the utmost confidentiality in compliance with data protection laws, rules and regulations.
The 2024 POPCEN-CBMS from July 15 to Sept. 15 aims to update the population statistics at the local and national level and the social registries for beneficiary targeting. It will also aid city and municipal level evidenced-based planning and implementation.
The PSA enumeration unit covers all households, housing units, institutional living quarters, temporary shelters and the homeless.*PNA