PSA asks for patience amid delay on PhilID delivery
OF SAN FERNANDO -- The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) appeals to Central Luzon residents to be more patient with the delays in the delivery of the Philippine Identification (PhilID) car d s.
PSA Regional Spokesperson John Rey Duay IV shared that they are prioritizing the delivery of the IDs to low-income cl asses.
“One thing that the PSA assures, all of those who registered for the PhilSys [Philippine Identification System] will be receiving their IDs. We all know that we are all excited to receive them, but we ask you to have longer patience,” he said.
The official added that the national IDs are also undergoing quality and duplication checking that is why it takes longer for the registrants to receive them.
Also, PSA clarified that they have no more control over the PhilID cards once the Step 1 or the demographic registration, and the Step 2 or the biometrics are done, as the delivery is already under the regulation of Philippine Postal Corporation (PhilPost).
PhilPost is encouraging the registrants to visit their website a t tracking.phlpost.gov.ph/ to track their ID cards.
Users must enter the transaction number provided in the PhilSys transaction slip to check the delivery status of the PhilID cards.
Meanwhile, Duay shared that they are eyeing to register about 315,000 residents in the region for PhilSys in the first quarter of this year.
“The processing and registration of the PhilSys is still continuous. Last year, we registered more than six million residents in the region. Also, three of our provinces already recorded one million registrants each,” he detailed.
Residents may register online at r egi st er.phi l sys.gov.ph for the Step 1; and visit the registration centers in their area for the Step 2 validation.
OF SAN FERNANDO -- Social Security System (SSS) continues to provide unemployment benefit to its members amid the pandemic.
SSS Luzon Central 2 Division Vice President Gloria Corazon Andrada said this aims to aid employees who are involuntarily separated from their work.
“There are instances that an employee is separated from work but this cannot be attributed to him or her.
For example, there is an economic downturn such as this pandemic, when an office closes and an employee loses his or her job; or there is a downsizing done or labor saving devices, then the employee can file for unemployment benefit,” Andrada explained.
However, she clarified that those who were separated or dismissed due to their own negligence or misconduct are not eligible to the benefit.
An employee may claim 50 percent of his or her monthly salary for two months or equivalent to a month’s salary.
“To avail this benefit, the employee must have at least 36 contributions and 12 of those contributions should be paid within the 18-month period,” she said.
Andrada also clarified that the benefit can be claimed only once every three years and not every time that an employee got separated or laid off from work.
“This is one way where we can provide relief to our members so that while they are scouting or
applying for a new job, they have something to use in order to support their family and get by every day, especially now that the pandemic has been tough for most of the people,” she said.
Those who are separated from work due to natural and man-made calamities and disasters are also eligible to claim.
Due to the ongoing pandemic, Andrada said that filing of unemployment benefit, as well as obtaining certification from the Department of Labor and Employment is now online through the SSS website.
Aside from the benefits, SSS also has loan offerings for their members including salary and calamity loans.
Meanwhile, she urged members to regularly pay their contribution on time so that in times of needs, they can be assured of the different benefits of SSS.
This is the seventh benefit of SSS, which is one of the salient features under the Republic Act 1199.
That law rationalizes and expands the powers and duties of Social Security Commission to ensure the long-term viability of SSS which took effect on March 5, 2019. (PIA 3)