Dogs hound census teams

MANILA, Philippines - Your dog could exclude your household from this year’s government census.

Census takers have been instructed to stay away from areas where they hear dogs barking.

Paula Monina Collado, National Statistics Office (NSO) deputy administrator, said they have deployed at least 85,000 census takers, mostly teachers, to conduct a house-to-house head count of people nationwide from May 17 to June 11 this year.

“We are expecting the population to rise from 88.6 million in 2007 to 94 million this year,” she said.

Speaking at the weekly Balitaan sa Rembrandt Hotel in Quezon City yesterday, Collado said among the risks census takers encounter are dog attacks in houses they visit.

“Our instruction is if they see dogs or hear barksing, stay away from the area,” she said.

In 2007, at least 20 census takers were attacked and bitten by dogs in the line of duty, she added.

Collado said census takers are also exposed to accidents, particularly in far-flung barangays where the only mode of transportation is habal-habal, a motorcycle with extended seating capacity.

At least two census takers fell from a habal-habal because they are not used to riding that type of vehicle, she added.

Team and area supervisors have been mobilized for the nationwide census, she added.

The results of the official census will be released by the end of the year, she said.

Collado said the average annual population growth is two percent, one of the highest in Asia.

The government has been conducting a census every 10 years, but in recent years, a midyear census has also been undertaken.

The first census, conducted in 1903, showed that the Philippines had a population of 7.6 million people.

In 1918 the country’s population rose to 10.3 million, and in 1970, the Philippine population was 68 million.

In the latest midyear census in 2007 the country’s population rose to 88.6 million.