The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) is presently conducting the 2016 Annual Poverty lndicators Surveys (APIS) this July 11 to 3'1, 2016. The said activity is a rider survey of the quarterly Labor Force Survey (LFS) - July 2016 round. The 2016 APIS is the eleventh in a series of poverty indicators survey conducted nationwide to gather data on income and non-income poverty indicators which will be used to assess and monitor the poverty situation in the country. The APIS questionnaires will be administered to around '11,000 sample households nationwide.
Hired Statistical Researchers (SRs) were trained for six days to gather income and expenditure data and the levels of consumption by item of expenditure covering the period January 1 to June 30, 2016. Specifically, the following data items that are correlated with poverty will be covered in the survey family income as key Inputs in the computation of national-level poverty incidence and poverty threshold; family expenditure pattern; percent distribution of families in relation to the indicators; access to safe water and sanitation; school participation and economic participation of household members. Other important topics are also included in the APIS such as, availment of social protection and government services, and awareness on drug abuse problem and prevention.
On the other hand, the LFS aims to provide quantitative framework for the preparation of plans and formulation of policies affecting the labor market. Specifically, the LFS is designed to collect information on the distribution of household population 15 years old and over, distribution of employed persons, distribution of underemployed persons, and distribution of unemployed persons.
Data that will be captured from both surveys will serve as inputs for policy makers in crafting government programs to address poverty and employment concerns of the country.
As stipulated in Section 26 of RA 10625, 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 or statistical tables, in which no reference to the respondents. Likewise, Section 27 of the same Act states that a person, including parties within the PSA Board and the PSA, who breach the confidentiality of information, shall be liable and will be charged accordingly.
The PSA enjoins all the sample households to actively participate in the conduct of the said surveys by providing truthful, complete and accurate information that will ultimately serve as vital input in evidence-based planning and decision-making.
