Sunday, April 27, 2008 Ginatilan seeks census review
THE Municipality of Ginatilan, Cebu wants a population recount, with officials saying they were dissatisfied with the August 2007 National Statistics Office (NSO) survey.
Ginatilan, according to the NSO’s official census, is the only Cebu town whose population decreased.
Officials are dismayed by the result of the latest census, which determines each local government unit’s Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) share.
Mayor Dean Michael Singco said he wants the town’s total population re-evaluated.
The 2000 census placed Ginatilan’s population at 14,073; in 2007, the count was at 13,654, a three percent decrease.
“There was no calamity in Ginatilan; there were not a lot of accidents. If they say migration, the difference is not that high,” Singco told a Sun.Star Cebu team that visited the town last week.
Singco said he called up the Provincial Statistics Office (PSO) and was told that migration, which is common in rural areas, is the cause.
‘Unusual’
But the mayor is not convinced, calling the decrease “unusual.”
He tasked all 14 Ginatilan barangay captains to conduct their own census.
As of last week, Looc has already complied, submitting a population count of 897.
The 2007 census placed the barangay’s population at only 794, which is lower compared to the 2000 survey of 860 people.
Singco has already drafted a letter addressed to Provincial Statistics Officer Firmo Diputado, requesting a re-survey that will “reflect an accurate, realistic, and near probable population data.”
Singco hopes to submit the letter within the week, just as the 13 other barangays finish their own census.
Estimate
Town Budget Officer Gilda Ledesma estimated that Ginatilan’s population should already be 15,275, based on voters’ registration with the Commission on Elections.
In his letter, Singco said the town registered 1,955 live births in 2000 to August 2007, excluding 40 per cent of the deliveries which are done outside the town, and just 653 deaths over the same period.
“(And) from the period of 2000 to August 2007, we have accounted for a number of retired Ginatilanons from other countries who have chosen to permanently come back and reside for good in the municipality,” he said in his letter.
This, he said, is proof that population in Ginatilan should not have gone down by three per cent.
Singco also said that the NSO census enumerators did not coordinate with them.
“Many census enumerators were not familiar with the political and territorial jurisdiction of Ginatilan. They did not coordinate with the municipality if only to ascertain boundaries or scope of their works. Many if not all are new to census taking,” he said.
In particular, he noted that population in all of the town’s nine mountain barangays decreased.
“This could have been attributed to the failure of some enumerators to obtain data from people found in far-flung places,” read his letter.
Singco intends to file a formal request tomorrow.
He said that even his barangay captains, who know their place better than the census enumerators, could not believe the new census.
Mistake
“Maybe there was a mistake, that’s why we are asking the agency to double-check because maybe it was not a total census,” Singco said.
Ledesma expects the IRA to be released in June, and hoped that the census result would be corrected by then, especially that population accounts for the biggest percentage in IRA computation.
Ginatilan is located 135 kilometers southwest of Cebu City.
It is home to the 161-year-old San Gregorio Magno Church, and the Inambakan Falls, which the Municipal Government is developing to be its next tourist attraction.
Palagsing, a rice cake made of buli and coconut milk, is the town’s delicacy.
Every Tuesday, the town plaza is packed with vendors selling everything from food to bags, shoes, and other commodities. (JGA)
