MEDIA FORUM. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) holds a media forum at Monarch Hotel in Calasiao town in Pangasinan on Friday (Dec. 11, 2020). The PSA gave updates on the recent Census on Population and Household and the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys), among others. (Photo by Hilda Austria)
CALASIAO, Pangasinan – The first step in the registration process of low-income household heads in the 41 towns and cities of Pangasinan for the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) is now at 81 percent, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
In a media forum held here on Friday, PSA Pangasinan chief statistical specialist Edgar Norberte said they targeted in the first step of the registration process the low-income household heads in the province.
He said only 41 out of the 48 towns and cities of Pangasinan were included in the priority this year.
“Agno, Anda, Burgos, Sual, Bautista, Sto. Tomas, and Villasis towns were not included probably due to low poverty incidence rate,” he added.
Norberte said they aim to complete this registration process for low-income household heads in the province this year.
In the Step 1 of the registration process for PhilSys that started in October, PSA enumerators and registration officers will go house-to-house and collect demographic information of a select sample of low-income household heads from 32 priority provinces this year, including Pangasinan.
The PSA said PhilSys prioritizes low-income household heads for easier transaction of government social programs, in partnership with the Landbank of the Philippines (LBP).
LBP first vice president Ma. Belma Turla said they target to open accounts for unbanked families.
“If they still have no bank accounts, they will have to register to Landbank,” she said.
Meanwhile, Step 2 will be the actual PhilSys registration, which is the validation of demographic information and capture of fingerprint, iris, and face images at PhilSys registration centers, said Camille Carla Beltran, officer-in-charge of the Civil Registration and Administrative Services Division of PSA Ilocos regional office.
“It could be a PSA-based registration or a local government unit (LGU)-based registration but what is available at the moment is the LGU-based registration centers, wherein we had a memorandum of agreement with the LGUs,” she said.
The PSA is yet to announce the implementation of the Step 2 of the registration process. (PNA)
