Nearly 1M sign up online for national ID

MANILA – More than 800,000 have already signed up for the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) via digital registration, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Monday.

The government is urging Filipinos to avail of the Philippine identification (PhilID), the national ID, to eliminate inefficient and expensive process of securing physical documents.

Some 849,862 registrants have completed the Step 1 PhilSys online registration as of May 13, despite technical glitches when it was opened on April 30.

“PSA continues to develop user-management strategies to improve the website and accommodate more registrants,” PSA said in a statement.

The online Step 1 registration process is aimed at boosting the general public’s engagement without compromising health and safety protocols amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Nearly 34 million Filipinos have likewise done the Step 1 process through house-to-house registration.

Early this month, the PSA started sending the first 956 PhilID cards through PHLPost (Philippine Postal Corporation), the PSA’s official courier partner.

The cards were printed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, which signed a memorandum of agreement with the PSA on October 2019 for the production of 116 million blank cards with security features within three years.

The transaction slip and supporting documents must be presented upon delivery of the ID card.

PHLPost will try to deliver the physical IDs to owners or authorized representatives three times.

Unclaimed cards can be picked up at the designated post office within 30 calendar days. If still unclaimed, the cards will be brought to PhilSys registration centers or PSA provincial offices for pick up.

All national IDs have the PhilSys Card Number (PCN) and should be used in transactions.

All transactions for PhilSys registration and the delivery of physical ID cards are free of charge.

For suspicious PhilSys transactions, the public should immediately notify the PSA through hotline number 1388, email address info@philsys.gov.ph or by sending a message to official Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/PSAPhilSysOfficial).

How to sign up online

Filipinos who wish to get a PhilID may log on to https://register.philsys.gov.ph/.

Step 1 will involve filling out an application form that will ask for basic personal information like full name, gender, date, and place of birth, blood type, and address.

A confirmation will be sent to the registered mobile number and email address. The Application Reference Number and/or QR (quick response) code shall be presented at registration centers.

Book the preferred appointment schedule and venue to proceed to Step 2 registration (biometrics capture).

Layers of security specification for data acquired under the PhilSys project are incorporated in the production of the PhilID to make sure all acquired information are protected.

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 all Filipinos and resident aliens.

The national ID shall be a valid proof of identity that shall be a means of simplifying public and private transactions, enrolment in schools, and the opening of bank accounts.