Philippine News
Delivery of first batch of PhilID cards ongoing
MANILA – The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has started the distribution of the first batch of Philippine ID (PhilID) cards this week.
A total of 956 PhilIDs will be delivered nationwide, including Metro Manila, La Union, Ilocos Sur, Nueva Ecija, Bulacan, Pampanga, Rizal, Cavite, Iloilo, Bacolod, Albay, Bohol, Masbate, Capiz, Negros Oriental, Cebu, and Davao.
PHLPost, the official delivery partner of the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys), will deliver the PhilIDs that were printed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
PSA Undersecretary Dennis Mapa said they are making sure that the machines stay in good condition to increase the volume of the next batch of PhilIDs.
“We are pleased to have commenced this major milestone in the implementation of the PhilSys. This exercise showed us what can be improved in our card production and personalization machines and processes,” he said in a news release.
The PSA targets to register 70 million Filipinos by the end of the year and nearly the entire population by mid-2022.
It is encouraging more Filipinos to sign up online once the site, register.philsys.gov.ph, is up and running again.
The PhilSys online Step 1 Registration website, after receiving more than 40,000 registration requests during the first minutes of the pilot launch on April 30, is currently under maintenance.
The surge in registration caused delays in the sending of the one-time passwords necessary to proceed with the registration.
“We are urgently looking into the issue and updating the website to resolve this technical challenge. Once again, we apologize for any inconvenience this has caused. We thank you for your patience and support for the PhilSys program,” the Facebook advisory read.
The second step of the registration will be done at registration centers as it will involve validation of demographic information against the original documents and capture of biometrics, the PSA said.
Signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte in August 2018, Republic Act 11055, or the Philippine Identification System Act, aims to establish a single national ID for Filipinos and resident aliens.
The national ID shall be a valid proof of identity and a means of simplifying public and private transactions, enrollment in schools, and opening of bank accounts.
It will also boost efficiency, especially in dealing with government services where people will only need to present one ID during transactions.