DAVAO CITY – The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Saturday said it will start the second step of the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) registration nationwide on Jan. 4, 2021.
The new schedule was written in an official announcement signed by PSA Undersecretary Dennis Mapa dated Dec. 12.
He said the Step 2 registration will start “on a gradual, small scale basis.
Step 2 registration refers to the validation of supporting documents and capturing of biometric information at registration centers.
Mapa also announced that up to 8.4 million Filipinos have completed the Step 1 registration as of December 9.
Registration for Step 1 was done on Oct. 12-Nov. 25 nationwide.
With the huge turnout of Step 1, Mapa said PSA has increased its initial commitment to register 9 million Filipinos to 11 million before end of the year.
Step 1 registration refers to the house–to-house collection of demographic information.
Meanwhile, scheduling appointments for Step 2 will be adopted as part of health and safety measures against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19),Mapa said.
He also said the PSA has already coordinated with partner local government units (LGUs) in informing Step 1 registrants about the Step 2 schedule.
He has called on the public to raise queries through the PhilSys official Facebook Page, or through hotline 1388.
PSA also announced that the agency will release an official advisory on hired and trained enumerators for Step 2 registration.
“We will continue our Step 1 registration activities until it is safe for our registrants to proceed with Step 2 registration. The PSA wants to ensure that we deliver a safe, secure and seamless PhilSys registration experience to the Filipino people. We encourage all Filipinos to participate once again once we open the registration activities to the public,” Mapa said.
Signed into law by President Rodrigo R. 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.
It will also boost efficiency, especially in dealing with government services where people will only need to present the ID during transactions. (PNA)
