The data gathering for the Population Census 2007 has been finished in Negros Oriental, Felida Generoso, assistant statistician of the local National Statistics Office, said Thursday.

The results of the census will be available in February 2008, she said. About 500 trained enumerators and 107 team supervisors went house-to-house starting August 1 to gather census data in all barangays in the province.

Generoso said they will start conducting the manual processing or the coding of the data collected during the survey. The coding will last until December this year, after which the processed data will be submitted to the NSO in Manila. The census is conducted every five years.

NSO statistician Regino Fabro Jr. earlier said the national government postponed the census in 2005 due to budget constraints. But due to the need of the public officials in updating and adjusting their Internal Revenue Allotment share, P2.6 billion was allotted for the conduct of this year's census, the 12th held nationwide.

The data generated from the census will be used in redistricting and apportioning of congressional seats.

It will also be used as basis in determining the LGU's IRA share and creation of barangays as well as elevation or conversion of a barangay to a higher level.

The country's 2005 census showed the population of Negros Oriental at 1,125,000 with a growth rate of 2.11 percent every year. Its projected population for 2010 is approximately 1.3 million, said Fabro. Among the cities and towns in the province, Dumaguete City holds the highest population with about 9 percent of the total, followed by the cities of Bayawan and Guihulngan.*RG

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