Quarantines slowed Philsys registration

LOCAL quarantine restrictions have proven to be among the major challenges in implementing the National ID, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

In a Laging Handa briefing on Wednesday, PSA Deputy National Statistician of the Philsys Registry Office Rosalinda P. Bautista said the PSA “lost close to 4,000 foregone registrations” due to local mobility restrictions.

However, Bautista said, the PSA continues its effort to register more Filipinos in the National ID. As of September 10, 42 million have completed Step 1 for demographic data capture; 30 million, Step 2 for biometric data capture; and over 1.7 million have received their IDS.

“The pandemic is a big challenge for Philsys registration. It’s not only in vaccination where we experience difficulties. Even our Philsys registration teams are struggling because of the suspension of operations,” Bautista said, partly in Filipino.

The Philsys registration has also been able to provide poor and unbanked Filipinos the opportunity to open a bank account when they complete their Step 2 registration through Landbank.

As of September 10, Bautista said, over 5 million Filipinos have already opened new Landbank accounts during their National ID Step 2 registration.

By the end of the year, Bautista said the government aims to register 70 million Filipinos under Step 1 and 50 million under Step 2.

“[Our] registration teams are working tirelessly in areas where they are allowed to conduct the registration. We are also engaging with our youth sector, professionals to [register and help seniors register], especially the online [Step 1 registration and make it] a family event,”

Bautista said in a mix of English and Filipino.

Warning

APART from the pandemic, another challenge is the excitement of those who have received their National IDS and post photos of their IDS online or through social media.

Bautista warned that if this continues, the IDS of these individuals can be used for fraud. This, she said, is the reason for PSA’S efforts to catch the attention of these Filipinos.

Preventing this from happening can also help the PSA improve the acceptance of the IDS by various establishments as a proof of identity.

Bautista said the National ID is experiencing “birth pains” as some establishments refuse to accept the National IDS of over 1.7 million as proof of their identities.

“We are experiencing birth pains. The ID being a new one and the ID not having a signature, these are our challenges. But we will not give up. We are advocating for the acceptance [of the National ID],” Bautista said.

She said government agencies such as the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), and Philpost are among the agencies that have issued memoranda to honor the National ID as proof of identity.

The PSA official also said they are working with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to encourage financial institutions to honor the National ID in their establishments.

Bautista said the PSA is also conducting webinars on the National ID to allay the fears of the public and establishments when it comes to the Philsys.

Philsys aims to provide a valid identification to Filipinos to ease public access to financial services and inclusion, social protection, health, education, and other government services.