The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Guimaras Provincial Statistical Office is currently conducting the 2021 Annual Survey of Philippine Business and Industry (ASPBI) with a rider questionnaire on the 2021 Survey on Information and Communication Technology (SICT).
“The 4-day training started on March 07-10, 2022, then the distribution followed on April 28 and will end on the 30th day of April. The collection also started on May 10 and will be completed on the 24th day of June,” Provincial Statistical Officer Nelida B. Losare said.
“We are now 100% in the distribution of questionnaires of both ASPBI and SICT, while in the collection, the ASPBI and SICT are now at 60.71% and 42.85%, respectively,” Losare added.
The sample business establishments for ASPBI were pre-identified in three (3) municipalities of the province: twelve (12) each in Jordan, five (5) in Nueva Valencia, and seven (7) in Buenavista with a total of 24 identified samples.
“Out of the pre-identified samples in Nueva Valencia, four (4) of which has a rider questionnaire on SICT, while two (2) and one (1) in Buenavista and Nueva Valencia, respectively,” Losare said.
The pre-identified sample business establishments represent various sectors of the province’s economy such as Agriculture, Hunting, Fishery, and Forestry; Construction; Manufacturing, Mining, and Quarrying; Trade; Financial Intermediation; Transportation; Electricity, Gas, Water Supply, and Sewerage; and Private Services.
“The 2021 ASPBI aims to collect and generate information on the levels, structure, performance, and trends of economic activities of the formal sector of the economy for the year 2021”, Losare explained.
Losare also elaborated that the rider form on 2021 SICT aims to collect and generate information on the availability, distribution, and access/utilization of ICT among establishments in the country.
“The measurement of ICT access and use will enable the assessment and monitoring of the digital divide in the country, furthermore the survey will generate core ICT indicators important for measuring the progress in information and communication technology”, Losare stated.
The data collected from the 2021 ASPBI will serve as bases from which the government and the private sector formulate policies and economic development plans, while the data collected from the 2021 SICT will be valuable in measuring progress in information communications technology in the country and this will help decision-makers in both public and private sectors in developing policy measures and investing in ICT.
“All Sample establishments have given multiple options on how they will respond to the survey, either using the online questionnaire available at the PSA website, utilizing the electronic copy of the questionnaire either in portable document format, or accomplishing the printed copy of the questionnaire, but mostly chose the printed one,” Losare added.
Losare assured the sample establishments owner that all information collected during the surveys will be considered confidential and shall not be used for purposes of taxation, investigation, or regulation as provided under Article 55 of Republic Act 10625 or the Philippine Statistical Act of 2013.
“We are still urging for the support and cooperation of the sample establishments for the attainment of the objectives of the 2021 ASPBI-SICT survey,” Losare said.
