Cagayan de Oro 2nd district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said on Tuesday the threat by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) to impose penalties on Filipinos should they decline to participate in the upcoming census is uncalled for and inappropriate.
“What we need is, as far as practicable, fewer people in the streets and outside their homes to help contain the spread of COVID-19,” Rodriguez said.
The Mindanao lawmaker was referring to a PSA statement warning people that refusal to participate in the 2020 population and housing census bears the punishment of one-year imprisonment and a fine of P100,000.
Rodriguez said the agency should consider postponing its census to January next year due to the raging COVID-19 pandemic. He filed House Resolution (HR) No.1186 to express the sense of the House of Representatives in calling for the postponement.
He noted that the PSA is preparing to launch the census and has already hired 113,364 data enumerators and 22,000 supervisors to visit homes. But he said conducting the survey this year, in the middle of a health crisis, just isn't worth the risk.
“While the agency has given assurances that these personnel have been trained to follow strict health protocols like the wearing masks and face shields and to keep a safe distance when interviewing residents for an estimated 15-30 minutes, there are still risks not only for the interviewees but interviewers and data enumerators as well,” he said.
There will be face-to-face interviews “and the possibility of infection is still there,” he said.
"This period when we are battling a pandemic is not the most appropriate time to conduct the census. We are still getting daily positive cases in the thousands, though the Department of Health is reporting that the numbers are going down,” Rodriguez added.
He pointed out that delaying the census for a few months or even until there is a vaccine against the new coronavirus will not adversely affect development planning and policy making by the national government and local government units.
“They can, in the meantime, rely on historical data with some adjustments,” he said.