Urban population of La Union increases by 21.5 thousand

• In 2020, 173.2 thousand or 21.1 percent of the total 822.3 thousand population of La Union lived in urban barangays. This represents an increase of 21.5 thousand persons from the 151.7 thousand urban residents in 2015. The rural population or those who lived in barangays classified as rural in 2020 comprised the remaining 649.2 thousand persons or 78.9 percent of the total population. (Table 1)

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Level of urbanization improves by 1.8 percentage points

• The level of urbanization or the proportion of the total population living in barangays classified as urban was recorded at 21.1 percent in 2020. This is 1.8 percentage points higher than the 19.3 percent level of urbanization in 2015. (Figure 1)

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City of San Fernando ranks first in terms of level of urbanization in the province

• Of the 20 city/municipalities of La Union, five city/municipalities registered a level of urbanization higher than the provincial level in 2020 (21.1%). City of San Fernando topped the list with 53.2 percent level of urbanization, followed by Bauang (45.8%), San Juan (26.8%), Rosario (26.7%), and Bacnotan (21.8%). (Table 1)

Tempo of urbanization decelerates to 2.3 percent in 2020

• The urban population of La Union increased at an average of 2.7 percent annually during the period of 2015 to 2020. In comparison, it is lower than the 12.0 percent average at which the urban population of the province grew annually during the period 2010 to 2015. Moreover, the rural population improved by 0.4 percent annually between the period of 2015 to 2020 from a 0.6 percent annual decline between the period 2010 to 2015. (Table 2)

• Between the period 2015 to 2020, the tempo of urbanization was computed at 2.3 percent. This is lower by 10.3 percentage points compared with the 12.6 percent tempo of urbanization that was posted between the period of 2010 to 2015. (Table 2)

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Proportion of urban barangays to total barangays increases by 0.7 percentage point

• Out of the 576 barangays in La Union in 2020, 59 barangays or 10.2 percent were classified as urban. In 2015, 55 barangays were classified as urban, representing 9.5 percent of the total 576 barangays during that year. (Table 3)

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TECHNICAL NOTES

2020 Census of Population and Housing (2020 CPH)

I.      Introduction

          The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) conducted the 2020 Census of Population and Housing (2020 CPH) in September 2020 with 01 May 2020 as reference date. This was the 15th census of population and the 7th census of housing in the Philippines since the first census was undertaken in 1903.

       The 2020 CPH was designed to take an inventory of the total population and housing in the country and collect information about their characteristics. It aimed to provide government executives, policy makers, and planners with population and housing data, particularly updated population count of all barangays in the country, for use as bases in their social and economic development plans, policies, and programs.

II.      Definition of Terms and Concepts

         A barangay is the smallest political unit in the country. The official list of barangays of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) based on the Philippine Standard Geographic Code (PSGC) as of 31 December 2020 was used during the 2020 CPH operations. For purposes of this publication, the PSGC as of 31 March 2022 was used as reference, to reflect the new composition of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

          Based on PSA Board Resolution No. 01 Series of 2017-098 (National Statistical Coordination Board – Board Resolution No. 09 Series of 2003), which was approved on 13 October 2003, a barangay is classified as urban if it meets any of the following:

1. It has a population size of 5,000 or more; or

2. It has at least one establishment with a minimum of 100 employees; or

3. It has five or more establishments with 10 to 99 employees, and five or more facilities within the two-kilometer radius from the barangay hall.

Further, all barangays in the National Capital Region (NCR) are automatically classified as urban.

A barangay which does not satisfy the abovementioned criteria is classified as rural.

The following facilities/services were considered in the classification of a barangay into either urban or rural under Category 3 (see description below):

1. town/city hall or provincial capitol;

2. church, chapel or mosque where religious service is held at least once a month;

3. public plaza or park for recreation;

4. cemetery;

5. market place or building where trading activity is carried out at least once a week;

6. public school buildings (elementary, high school, and college/university);

7. library;

8. hospital, puericulture center, barangay health center/station or clinic;

9. fire station or public fire protection service;

10. seaport in operation;

11. community waterworks system;

12. post office or postal service;

13. landline telephone system or calling station;

14. cellular phone signal; and

15. public street sweeper.

The categories used in classifying a barangay as urban are as follows:

         Level of urbanization is the proportion of the urban population to the total population in a specific period. It is calculated by dividing the urban population by the total population and multiplying the quotient by 100.

         The tempo of urbanization is an indicator to express the speed at which an area is moving toward an urban classification. In this report, it is calculated by taking the difference between the growth rate of the urban population and the growth rate of the rural population.

          A population is believed to increase in a geometric fashion, that is, it changes at a rate wherein the increments are compounded over a specific period.

III.     Method of Enumeration

The Head Census Area Supervisor (Head CAS), who was a regular PSA personnel, was assisted by the hired CAS in administering the CPH Form 5, through a face-to-face interview with the Punong Barangay or any knowledgeable barangay official. Some conducted the interview during the regular meeting of the Association of Barangay Captains (ABC) or Liga ng mga Barangay even before the start of the census, that is, at the height of the coordination activities of the PSA officials and personnel with the officials of local government units. Otherwise, it was recommended that the face-to-face interview in the barangay be done during the middle of the enumeration period when ocular inspection of the barangay has already been made. During that time, it was expected that the interviewer has already familiarized himself/herself with the boundaries, characteristics, facilities, and establishments present in the barangay and its neighboring barangays.

IV.    Respondent of CPH Form 5

The respondent of CPH Form 5 was an official of the barangay who provided information about the characteristics and facilities in the barangay and its neighboring barangays, establishments situated in the barangay, informal settlers, number of households in relocation areas in the barangay, if any, as well as the inmovers/outmovers to/from the barangay and the barangay/s of origin/destination. The respondent was either the Punong Barangay, Barangay Councilor, Barangay Secretary, Barangay Treasurer, or any other knowledgeable barangay official.

SGD. DANITES E. TEÑIDO, Ph.D.
Chief Statistical Specialist

/KJGH