PSA to pre-register 5M low-income household heads for PhilSys

FILE: Sample of the front design of the PhilSyS/Philippine Identification Document (ID) card. (Photo By Philippine Statistics Office – Philippine Information Agency, Public Domain)

MANILA – The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) will conduct a house-to-house pre-registration of low-income household heads for the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) as it assured that strict health protocols are in place amid the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.

During a Laging Handa public briefing on Wednesday, PSA Assistant Secretary Rosalinda Bautista said the move is to minimize crowding and avoid long queues in registration centers while implementing the national ID system or PhilSys.

Bautista said Step 1 of the process involves pre-registration of targeted respondents through a house-to-house or doorstep interview beginning October 12.

The PSA, she said, will start the pre-registration of the five million heads of low-income households identified from the “Listahanan” of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Bautista said the pre-registration process covers targeted registrants from the 32 provinces nationwide.

She said the PSA will get the registrants’ information and will schedule them to undergo a biometric capture, which is Step 2 of the PhilSys registration process.

The registrants will be provided date and time before going to registration centers.

“In that way, maiiwasan po natin iyong posibleng magkahawaan iyong ating mga nagpaparehistro (we can avoid the possible transmission of [Covid-19] infections among registrants),” Bautista said.

Health protocols

Bautista assured that the PSA is following stringent health protocols during the implementation of the registration.

She said the PSA is conducting regular disinfection measures to avoid contamination of the dreaded virus in registration centers.

Bautista, meanwhile, allayed public fears in obtaining a national ID.

“Huwag po kayong matakot na ipagkatiwala ang impormasyon sa PSA para po mairehistro namin kayo at magkaroon tayo ng national ID na makakatulong sa mga maraming bagay, para po mapadali ang mga transaksiyon natin hindi lamang sa gobyerno kung hindi pati po sa pribadong sektor (Don’t be afraid to entrust your information to the PSA so that we can list you and have a national ID that can help with many things. Various transactions not only with the government but also with the private sector will be easier),” she said.

Close to communities

In a separate interview over ABS-CBN News Channel, Bautista earlier said the PSA is coordinating with local government units to ensure that registration centers will be established close to the communities with high concentration of low-income families.

“Sa November 25 naman po, eto yung simula ng pagpunta nila (sa) registration centers para magparehistro ng biometric capture (On Nov. 25, this is the when they will start going to registration centers to undergo biometric capture),” she said.

Bautista said in addition to the five million household heads, the PSA will also schedule the registration of one member of the family which will reach close to four million individuals.

“All in all, ang ipe-preregister namin before the end of the year is nine million pero ‘yung five million na household head ay pupunta na sila sa registration centers (the nine million people will be pre-registered before the end of the year but the five million household heads will already be heading to the registration centers),” she said.

Bautista said the PSA also targets to register some 45 million individuals by the end of 2021 and another 42 million people by 2022.

“So by the end of the term of President (Rodrigo) Duterte, naparehistro na namin dapat ang (we will be able to register) majority in the Philippines,” she said, noting that the registration and the ID to be issued are all free of charge.

Bautista also explained why low-income households are prioritized in the registration.

“Bakit low-income ang aming binigyan ng prayoridad? Kasi po chances are sila ‘yung wala pang bank account (Why are we prioritizing low income [household heads]? Because chances are, they do not have bank accounts),” Bautista said.

“Kaya po ang gusto sana ng gobyerno, ‘pag nagbigay ng mga ayuda lalo na sa mga low-income (The government wants, hopefully, is that when aid is given particularly to those low-income), it passes through a bank account para po madaling ma-process ang mga distribution ng financial aid (so that the distribution of financial aid is quickly processed),” she added.

The PhilSys aims to establish a single national identification for every Filipino, Bautista said.