The Philippine Statistics Authority has asked business operators in the Cordillera to accommodate individuals, who will request from them information about the nature of their economic enterprises.

This is in line with PSA’s aim to update the list of business establishments in the country in preparation for the 2019 Census of Philippine Business Industry (CPBI), which serves as the government’s basis in formulating economic policies and economic development plans.

PSA-Benguet Statistical Specialist Maria Theresa Bagsangi said data collectors, who will go to every barangay in the region, will be deployed on April 16.

“We are given 73 days from April 16 to complete the listing,” she said.

The 2018 updating of the list of establishments will modify the 2016 data, which recorded 18,992 businesses in the Cordillera and 915,726 in the country. 

Aside from providing a list of updated and reliable list of establishments or enterprises in the country, the activity also aims to provide the government and other stakeholders’ information on business “deaths” and “births” and other business demographic indicators.

The list will also provide a record of the emerging industries in the country.

Bagsangi asked business owners to accommodate the data gatherers, as she assured that PSA keeps all the information it gathers in every survey, confidential.

The data to be asked from the establishment owners are their business name, registered name, address, economic area or others area/s where the business operates, economic and legal organization, nationality of the owner/major stockholder/contributor, economic activity or nature of the business, the year the business started operating, number of employees, and total assets.

Bagsangi said in all the surveys the PSA is conducting, gathering data from business establishments is the most challenging because owners are reluctant to share information about their businesses for fear that this will be used for other purposes.

“We will not divulge their names or the name of their businesses. If the local government units request data from us, what we release is the summary of figures or numbers. We do not release individual information,” she said.

Section 26 of Republic Act 10625 or the Philippine Statistical Act provides that the individual data furnished by a respondent to statistical inquiries, surveys, and censuses of the PSA are considered privileged communication and cannot be used as evidence in any proceeding.

The law provides that PSA “may release information from statistical inquiries, surveys, and censuses in the form of summaries or statistical tables in which no reference to an individual, corporation, association, partnership, institution, or business enterprise should appear.”

PSA-Benguet Chief Statistical Specialist Imelda Buyuccan said that before the data collectors will be deployed, they will be coordinating with municipal and barangay officials to ensure a smooth implementation of the activity.

She added the data gatherers have been trained well on how to perform their tasks.