By Pearl Gumapos
According to Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) assistant secretary Rose Bautista on Wednesday (Sept. 15), the agency has recorded 42 million Filipinos who have undergone Step 1 of the registration process for the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) ID as of Sept. 10, 2021.
For Step 2, which involves capturing the registrant’s biometric data and verifying their demographic information, the agency has registered 30 million Filipinos.
And for Step 3, which is the issuance of the PhilSys number and PhilID, the Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost) has distributed more than 1.7 million PhilID cards.
“Isa sa mga objectives ng PhilSys ay financial inclusion. Kaya kung mapapansin nila sa mga registration centers, nandoon ang Landbank na aming katuwang. Kasi kapag nagparehistro ka at nandoon ang ating Landbank, pwede rin sila mag-open ng kanilang bank account,” Bautista said during the Laging Handa public briefing.
“At nakapag-open na ang mahigit 5 million na individuals ng Landbank accounts,” she added.
As for individuals attempting to create fake IDs, Bautista said the agency has the right to enforce penalties and charges.
“Para sa mga maga-attempt na mag peke ng kanilang ID o mag-produce ng kanilang ID, mayroon po tayong karapatan [mag-enforce] ng penalties at charges,” she said.
“Mayroon po kaming division dito sa PhilSys registry office na who will look into at mag-file ng kaso para doon sa mga madi-discover namin ito ang mga pekeng ID na prinesent nila,” she added. – bny
