BAGUIO CITY – The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) reported that some 652,859 residents in the region have completed the registration process for the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) as of Friday.
"This is 52.29 percent of the total population in the region," said PSA-CAR director Villafe Alibuyog on the sidelines of the briefing on the region's 2021 full-year poverty statistics.
Abra has 63,539 registrants (48.73 percent of target registrants) while Apayao has 30,318 (75.57 percent); Benguet (including Baguio City) has 453,477 (54.15 percent); Ifugao has 30,434 (33.71 percent); Kalinga has 47,572 (52.70 percent) and Mountain Province has 27,519 (45.73 percent).
The region targets to register 1,248,605 individuals.
The registration system has two stages -- the first is obtaining basic information like address and the second involves the taking of the person-specific information like iris scan and fingerprint which requires in-person registration.
She added that aside from the mobile registration sites in towns and barangays, the PSA also holds special registration at different government offices.
Alibuyog said 122 registration kits are being used to cater to the different provinces and municipalities which are far from the capital towns.
Signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte in August 2018, Republic Act 11055, or the PhilSys 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 PhilID during transactions. (PNA)