City of San Fernando, Pampanga –Based on the assessment of the demographic vulnerabilities using the demographic vulnerability tool and the 2010 Census of Population and Housing as the basis for the generation of estimation projections for the 2020 population, all cities, and municipalities of Region III are vulnerable to COVID-19 virus.
With the approval of the Joint Memorandum Circular 2020-01 among national government agencies, the Commission on Population and Development Region III formed a task force on COVID-19 Demographic Vulnerabilities (DV) with the regional staff along with the local government units represented by its provincial and city population offices to analyze the demographic vulnerabilities of the localities in the region.
According to OIC-Regional Director Vicky Barbea de la Torre, demographics play a key role in the time of pandemics. Influenced by demographic and spatial characteristics, a geographic spread of infection not only undermines the health outcomes but also the possible mitigations and interventions to address the situation. She said that the demographic vulnerabilities (DV) tool aims to identify demographic characteristics that may either cause or enhance the exposure or possibility of individuals and segments of the population to be infected with the COVID-19 virus.
The DV Tool crafted by POPCOM Central Office identifies the demographic vulnerabilities of localities based on the region’s household density, the number of the senior citizen residing in housing units along with other household members in floor areas less than 20 square meters and the number of senior citizens residing alone in housing units having floor areas less than 20 square meters.
The findings show all cities and municipalities of Region III to be vulnerable as evidenced by barangays within all cities and municipalities to have high, middle, or low vulnerability. The region is shown to have 17.47% of its total barangays with high demographic vulnerability, 47.49% with middle vulnerability, and 28.14% with low vulnerability. In almost all barangays of Central Luzon, the three demographic vulnerability indicators are present in terms of occurrence. Among the barangays which had at least one indicator present, housing unit density emerged as the major indicator followed by the total number of senior citizens living with other household members. The total number of senior citizens living alone was the least indicator.
With the occurrence of COVID-19 cases in almost all provinces and HUC’s in Central Luzon, health measures (e.g. implementation of physical distancing, health and sanitation practices) should be reiterated for implementation not only in public areas but even among households with the region’s household density and situation on senior citizens. It is also recommended that LGUs consider the findings in terms of planning for community quarantine guidelines and approaches. Furthermore, consideration of geographical mapping to provide LGUs the possible scenarios and trends of infection spread. There is also a need for data validation at the local level through existing barangay data-gathering mechanisms (e.g. Community-based Monitoring System, Registry of Barangay Inhabitants, and Migrants, etc.). The assessment also points out the importance of ensuring the availability of demographic data at the barangay level for future reference in the occurrence of similar emergency/disaster-related situations.
The data analysis was conducted using the results of the 2010 Census of Population and Housing as the basis for the generation of estimation projections for the 2020 population of each province, city, municipality, and barangay. Information on COVID-19 cases, on the other hand, was provided by the local government units through their respective local population offices.