City-wide enumeration in high-risk and/or disaster-prone areas is one of the national thrusts of the Philippine Alliance for the past several years. This initiative, which now gained funding support from Slum Dwellers International (SDI), is seen to have bigger impacts in various local and international levels/institutions (community, federation, LGU, national government, local and international network organizations) in terms of data banking, local and site development planning and future disaster intervention programs. SDI’s funding support for citywide enumeration will cover the following activities to be conducted for a maximum period of one and a half year:
a. formulation of enumeration tools (e.g. survey questionnaires/forms and household tag numbers)
b. orientation for enumerators
c. actual conduct of enumeration
d. data encoding
e. data analysis
f. data validation
g. data publication
Enumeration activities will be conducted in all HPFPI regions using the same survey questionnaire and a national encoding format. Data analysis will also be generated from a national scope.
In HPFPI - Western Visayas particularly in Iloilo and Bacolod cities, citywide enumeration aimed to:
1. fill-in the apparent information gaps on the number and status of urban poor communities living in high-risk areas
2. serve as a tool in identifying possible intervention programs and in formulating local development plans to improve the living conditions of disaster-prone communities and those facing eviction/demolition threats;
3. serve as a tool to leverage resources from the government and other institutions for future projects targeting high-risk communities;
4. to utilize enumeration results as driving force to organize communities to demonstrate feasible actions to improve their living conditions.
The citywide enumeration targets communities living in foreshore areas, riverbanks,
railways, dumpsite areas and those who are directly affected by ongoing city
development/infrastructure projects.
In Iloilo City, a total of 7,570 households spread in six barangays are targeted to be surveyed in the first phase. These barangays are Sto. Niño Sur, Sto. Niño Norte and Calaparan in Arevalo District; Calumpang, San Juan and Boulevard in Molo District.
On the other hand, baseline information are still being gathered in Bacolod City that could eventually serve as reference in identifying barangays to be covered by the enumeration. Also, an office has been set-up in preparation for the citywide survey and anticipated expansion of CLIFF project in Bacolod City.
Linking with the Academe and LGU for the Conduct of Citywide Enumeration
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Mr. Ramon Robles, ICUPAO's detailed personnel assists in structural mapping of households in high risk-areas |
As a proof of its continued partnership with the Iloilo City government, HPFPI-Iloilo is jointly undertaking the citywide enumeration with Iloilo City Urban Poor Affairs Office (ICUPAO). Four personnel (4 enumerators and 1 spot mapper) were detailed by ICUPAO to assist in enumeration and structural mapping in priority areas.
Recognizing also the long-term gains from the citywide survey implementation, Bacolod Housing Authority (BHA) assured the Alliance of its commitment and full support to this first citywide initiative and to its upcoming undertakings in Bacolod City. Various logistical support have been extended by the local government of Bacolod City in preparation for the citywide survey. These include drafting and approval of endorsement letter allowing the federation to conduct survey in Bacolod, provision of directory of contact persons, list and profiles of prospective barangays to be surveyed, assignment of local officials to assist and guide in ocular inspection, structural mapping and actual conduct of survey.
The Alliance also linked with reputable academic institutions to assist in research and documentation of survey experiences. The University of the Philippines Visayas sends students yearly for their field-based requirement or practicum under the Community Development Program. This semester, three Community Development Majors will assist the federation in validation, editing, encoding of surveyed data and in documentation of learnings and experiences of enumerators while doing the survey. UP Visayas Computer Science majors were tapped as well in setting-up a local database for the community survey. Having this database is not merely for documentation purposes but could also be utilized in identifying and prioritizing communities who need immediate program intervention.
The Alliance is also on the process of formalizing its partnership with West Negros University particularly with the College of Engineering (COE) and Research Development and Extension Office (RDEO). A memorandum of Agreement between HPFPI and the West Negros University was already drafted and reviewed for final approval of both parties.
Community volunteers were mobilized as enumerators and were given series of orientation and trainings to help them familiarize survey questionnaires and learn the ethics of dealing with survey respondents.
Surveyed Communities
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A community enumerator interviews a respondent of Barangay Sto. Nino. Norte, Arevalo, Iloilo City |
As of November, two barangays were already surveyed in Iloilo City namely Barangay Sto. Niño Sur, with 850 households surveyed, and Barangay Sto. Niño Norte with 387 households surveyed respectively.
In Bacolod City, actual survey and structural mapping was started last November 15, 2010 in Barangay 35. Eighteen (18) enumerators, 4 of which were community workers (3 Barangay Health Workers and 1 Barangay Nutrition Scholar) were mobilized. A total of 238 households in foreshore areas were surveyed, with 6 refusals, and 3 households recorded as out during the actual survey.
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HPFPI conducts regular feedbacking on enumerators'survey experiences and difficulties in filling-up survey questionnaires |
Presently, editing, validation and encoding of surveyed data using a national SPSS encoding template is ongoing. While waiting for the approval of informed consent letters for Barangay Captains of next target barangays, reproduction of survey forms, household tag numbers, and feedbacking activity are being done simultaneously.
Given the wide scope of this enumeration initiative, HPFP Western Visayas is now exploring the feasibility of using the GIS to map-out priority high-risk areas to generate accurate data on informal settlements and at the same time speed-up the enumeration process.
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