By Jovee Marie de la Cruz, March 13 2019; Business Mirror
Image Credit to Philippine Star
The leadership of the House of Representatives on Tuesday said the government is ready to conduct the initial batch of registration and issuance of the first Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) in September.
Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said the National Statistics Office made assurance following the House Oversight Committee on Population and Family Relations held in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental.
“I am happy that it’s all systems go for the National ID system based on the timeline they have presented to us this morning,” she said in a news statement. The government is targeting that by 2022, it would have issued 105 million cards to Filipinos and resident aliens. The government has guaranteed a P2-billion funding for the national ID system.
According to the identification for development initiative of the World Bank, over 16.3 million Filipinos do not have proof of identity and are hindered from availing of government and financial services.
During the hearing, Atty. Lourdines de la Cruz, deputy national statistician of the Philippine Statistics Authority, said that in compliance with RA 11055, or the Philippine Identification System Act, they will start the registration for the PhilSys this September by targeting about 6 million individuals. She added those that are eligible to register are Filipinos and resident aliens that are at least five years old.
According to Dela Cruz, the first to be registered are indigents, People with Disabilities (PWDs) and government workers in several key areas all over the country.
Under the law, the information to be gathered for the PhilSys will include biometrics (thumbprint, iris and face scanning), full name, sex, date of birth, place of birth, blood type, residential address, and if one is a Filipino or a resident alien. Information about the marital status, mobile numbers and email addresses are optional.
After the registration, which is free of charge, the registrant will be given his/her permanent PhilSys Number. The corresponding card will be issued a few days later after the information is authenticated.
The card will serve as single identification system for all Filipino citizens and resident aliens will eliminate the need to present other forms of identification when transacting with the government and private sector.