(PSA photo)
DAVAO CITY – More than one million Philippine Identification (PhilID) cards have been delivered by the Philippine Postal Corp. (PHLPost) across the country as of Aug. 16, 2021.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has partnered with PHLPost and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for the delivery of the PhilID cards and card production and personalization, respectively.
The number of PhilIDs delivered is expected to increase in the coming days as the PSA and BSP have dispatched 3,036,747 million cards to PHLPost for delivery, the PSA stated in its August 18 post on Facebook.
“Since the beginning of Step 3 delivery operations in May 2021, PHLPost has worked with PSA to ensure the swift and safe delivery of PhilIDs to successful registrants of the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys). PHLPost committed to ramp up their delivery operations in the coming weeks for more Filipinos to enjoy the benefits of using their PhilIDs in various public and private transactions,” said PSA Undersecretary Dennis Mapa, also the National Statistician and Civil Registrar chief.
The door-to-door delivery of the PhilID cards by PHLPost is the third and final step of the PhilSys registration, following the online demographic registration and biometrics process.
“We humbly ask for the patience and support of the public as we continue to accelerate card production to accommodate the millions of Filipinos who have successfully registered for Step 1 and Step 2,” PSA Assistant Secretary Rosalinda Bautista said.
The PhilID card comes with a letter containing the registrant’s PhilSys Number (PSN), which the owner should not divulge to anybody.
“Any information found in the letter is confidential and should not be shared to any public platform or figure unless otherwise required by the law. PSA reiterates that the PhilSys Card Number, the public version of PSN, should instead be used in various public and private transactions,” the PSA said.
To enable registrants to use their PhilSys IDs pending the delivery of the PhilID card, the PSA is eyeing to launch within the year the PhilSys mobile ID, an alternative version of the physical card.
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, enrollment in schools, and the opening of bank accounts.
It also seeks to boost efficiency, especially in dealing with government services where people will only need to present one ID during transactions. (PNA)
