The government is confident of reaching its 50-70 million target registrations for the national ID by yearend, after 37.2 million Filipinos signed up for step 1 of the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) as of July 2, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua said Friday.
From zero registration after the pandemic set in last April 2020, the Philippine Statistics Authority said that around 37.2 million individuals have registered for step 1 or the demographic data collection.
PSA said some 16.2 million individuals have also completed their step 2 registration or biometrics capture. Moreover, 343,742 registrants have received their PhilID cards.
“The COVID-19 crisis underscores the need to provide unhampered access to banking and social services for all Filipinos, especially the poor.
This is why the President gave the directive to accelerate the implementation of the Philippine Identification System or PhilSys to provide all Filipinos a unique and digitalized ID,” Chua said in a statement.
To safely roll-out PhilSys amid the pandemic and meet social distancing requirements, the PSA adopted a three-step registration process. The first step is the demographic data collection, which can be done through house-to-house or online registration. The second is the biometrics capture at designated registration centers.Third is the issuance of the PhilSys Number or PSN and PhilID card.
PhilSys also partnered with the state-run Land Bank of the Philippines to allow registrants to open bank accounts in registration centers. As of July 2, 2021, 4.4 million registrants have applied for an account with the bank.
In a memorandum, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said that the PhiIID “should be accepted as official and sufficient proof of identity without the need to present any other identification documents.”
The Department of the Interior and Local Government likewise recently ordered all local government units to recognize the PhilID in public and private transactions.
“We aim to register 50 to 70 million Filipinos with the PhilSys and achieve 100 percent financial inclusion at the family level by the end of the year. This will help the government efficiently identify beneficiaries for social protection programs and spark the widespread use of electronic payments to accelerate the digital economy,” Chua said.