I. Introduction
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) conducted the 2020 Census of Population and Housing (CPH) in September 2020. The 2020 CPH was a nationwide government undertaking that involved the collection, compilation, evaluation, analysis, publication, and dissemination of data on population count, demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the population, housing characteristics, household characteristics, and barangay characteristics in each barangay, city/municipality, province, and region in the country. With reference to the first census in 1903, the 2020 CPH was the 15th census of population and the 7th census of housing in the Philippines.
Moreover, it was the first census undertaking that adopted, on a limited scale the Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) technique, which involved the gathering of information through the use of electronic questionnaires contained in an electronic gadget (tablet). Majority of the areas, however, adopted the traditional Paper and Pen Interviewing (PAPI) technique and Self-Administered Questionnaire (SAQ). Paper Assisted Telephone Interviewing (PATI) technique was likewise adopted in response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, as well as the Computer Assisted Web Interviewing (CAWI) technique, which was administered to PSA personnel and members of the PSA Board, Interagency Committee on Population and Housing Statistics (IACPHS), Census Coordinating Boards (CCBs), and later, the general public.
The census of population is the source of data on the size, distribution, and composition of the population. The census of housing, on the other hand, provides information on the supply of housing units and other information on the structural characteristics and facilities that have bearing upon the maintenance of privacy and health and the development of normal family living conditions. These data were collected for different geographic units, that is, from the national down to the barangay level. These information are vital in making rational plans and programs towards national and local development.
II. Definition of Census Terms and Concepts
Most of the operational concepts and definitions adopted in the 2020 CPH have also been used in the past censuses of population and housing. The use of standard operational definitions of terms and concepts and the adherence to national and international standard classifications were aimed at ensuring the comparability of census results across different census years and census data of other countries. The 2020 CPH enumerators (ENs) were instructed to adhere strictly to these operational concepts and definitions.
Household
A household is a social unit consisting of a person living alone or a group of persons who sleep in the same housing unit and have a common arrangement in the preparation and consumption of food.
In most cases, a household consists of persons who are related by kinship ties, such as parents and their children. In other instances, however, several generations of familial ties are represented in one household while, still in other cases, even more distant relatives are included as members of the household.
Some household members may have no relationship to the head of the household, for example, household helpers, boarders, and nonrelatives. They are considered as members of the household provided that they sleep in the same housing unit and have a common arrangement for the preparation and consumption of food with the household and that they do not go home to their family at least once a week.
A group of unrelated individuals, as in the case of a group of students or workers who decide to rent a place and make common arrangements for the preparation and consumption of their food, constitutes one household.
Usually, a household is an entire group of persons who customarily live in the same housing unit. However, there are cases when two or more distinct family groups or groups of unrelated persons maintain separate food arrangements even though they share one housing unit. Each of these two or more distinct groups constitutes a household.
A person who shares a housing unit with a household but separately cooks his/her meals or consumes his/her food elsewhere is not considered a member of that household. This person should be listed as a separate (one member) household.
Household Membership
In determining household membership, the basic criterion is the usual place of residence or the place where the person usually resides. This may be the same or different from the place where he/she is found at the time of the census. As a rule, it is the place where he/she usually sleeps.
Household population
Household population comprises of persons who belong to a household.
Institutional Living Quarter
Institutional living quarter (ILQ) is a structurally separate and independent place of abode intended for habitation by large groups of individuals. Such a quarter usually has certain common facilities such as a kitchen and dining room, toilet and bath, and lounging area which are shared by the occupants.
Institutional Population
Institutional population comprises of persons who are found living in ILQs. They may have their own families or households elsewhere but at the time of the census, they are committed or confined in ILQ, wherein they are usually subject to a common authority or management or bound by either a common public objective or a common personal interest.
III. Methods of Enumeration
The enumeration for the 2020 CPH was primarily conducted using the conventional PAPI technique and SAQ.
CAPI technique was done only in two provinces (Batanes and Marinduque). PATI technique was also made an option to those who did not want a face-to-face interview. CAWI technique, on the other hand, was offered to targeted respondents such as PSA personnel and members of the IACPHS, PSA Board, and national and local CCBs. During the latter part of the census, CAWI was also offered to the general public.
A complete enumeration was conducted in all barangays nationwide to obtain the population count and data on selected demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the household population and selected housing/household characteristics. For institutional population, selected demographic and socioeconomic characteristics were likewise gathered.
Information about households of Filipinos in Philippine embassies, consulates, and missions abroad, as well as the homeless population were also gathered and included in the total population of the country.
IV. Philippine Standard Geographic Code (PSGC)
The geographic codes used in the latest 2020 CPH reports are based on the PSGC as of the 3rd Quarter of 2021.
The composition of BARMM, which was created by virtue of Republic Act (RA) No. 11054, otherwise known as the “Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM)” and signed into law on 27 July 2018, is presented in accordance with PSA Board Resolution No. 13 Series of 2021 – “Approving and Adopting the Third Quarter 2021 Philippine Standard Geographic Code Updates to Include the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) and Correct the Names of 37 Barangays”. In view of the above, the City of Cotabato and the 63 barangays in the Municipalities of Carmen, Kabacan, Midsayap, Pigkawayan, Pikit, and Aleosan in the Province of Cotabato (North Cotabato), which opted to join BARMM are already included in BARMM.
