The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) is to set to conduct the 2018 Updating of the List of Establishment (2018 ULE) in preparation for the 2018 Census of Philippine Business and Industry (CPBI) to be conducted in 2019.The 2018 ULE start in April 16 and expected to last until September 2018.

The 2018 ULE will be undertaken primarily to provide an updated and reliable frame for the establishment- and enterprise-based censuses and surveys, such as the 2018 CPBI. Door- to-door canvassing and inquiry from establishments will be done to update the status and basic characteristics of the establishments listed in the Statistical Business Register (SBR) and to add information for new establishments or those which are not yet listed in the SBR.

The comprehensive 2018 ULE will cover 27,832 barangays throughout the country with listed establishments in the preliminary 2017 List of Establishments (LE). The estimated total number of establishments to be enumerated in these barangays is about 1.28 Million.

As part of the strategic thrust goal to use innovative procedures and technology in the processes, the 2018 ULE will adopt the use of the tablet-based Establishment Inquiry Application in data collection activity. This Establishment Inquiry Application, also known as the ULEApp, is a customized android tablet-based application designed by the PSA for exclusive use in ULE operations. Using the ULEApp, the geographic coordinates of the establishments will also be captured and included in the SBR database in preparation for map-based monitoring and data dissemination activities.

The data collected under Updating of the List of Establishment shall be covered by the confidentiality of information clause under Section 26 of RA 10625 which stipulates that individual data furnished by a respondent to statistical inquiries, surveys and censuses of the PSA shall be considered privileged information and such shall be inadmissible as evidence in any proceeding. The PSA releases data gathered in the form of summaries of statistical tables, in which no reference to individual, corporation, association, partnership, institution or business enterprise shall appear.

Similar to other statistical surveys of the PSA, the successful conduct of the Updating of the List of Establishment shall be attributed to the cooperation of the respondent establishments and enterprises as well as officials of the sample barangays.