The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) - South Cotabato enjoins the public to cooperate and support the conduct of the May 2025 round of the Labor Force Survey (LFS) with the Volunteer Work Questions as its rider.

The LFS is a nationwide survey of households conducted by the PSA to gather data on the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the population. Data from the survey provides information on major labor market trends such as labor force participation and unemployment rates, hours worked, past industries and occupations of currently unemployed persons.

In addition, additional questions were incorporated to generate reliable volunteerism data in the labor force to reveal more clearly the potential economic impact of volunteer work in which it can be used by policy makers and program managers, both in the public and private sectors, as a reference in crafting policies and guidelines that will provide citizens varied areas of opportunities for civic engagement, high levels of voluntary participation, and innovate volunteering infrastructure.

Volunteers constitute a substantial share of the workforce than what is generally recognized. In the face of poverty or in times of crisis, volunteer work plays an important role in holding individuals and families united, fostering social solidarity, and addressing the needs of many groups.

The Philippine National Volunteer Service Coordinating Agency (PNVSCA) continues to embark on statistical development initiatives which includes the generation of data/information through survey, secondary and administrative data. One of them is through the conduct of Volunteer Work Survey (VWS) that can be a source of volunteering data from the household level and a useful platform for measuring volunteer work (paid or unpaid).

PSA South Cotabato hired and trained three (3) Statistical Researchers (SRs) to visit and interview 96 selected households in the province using the Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) through a tablet. All privileged information gathered shall be held with strict confidentiality in accordance with RA 10625 or the Philippine Statistical Act of 2013 and RA 10173 otherwise known as the Data Privacy Act of 2012.

The enumeration commenced on May 8 and expected to be completed on May 28, 2025.

Approved for Release:

MA. EILEEN A. BERDEPRADO
Chief Statistical Specialist 
OIC- Provincial Statistical Officer
Philippine Statistics Authority - South Cotabato