Hold up! Before you toss aside or misplace your National Identification (ID) card, consider its significance and legitimacy.
As of July 21 this year, over 3.1 million citizens in the Zamboanga Peninsula region have already registered for the National ID, also known as the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) ID. Of these, 970,722 registrants are from Zamboanga City; 897,833 from Zamboanga del Norte; 791,510 from Zamboanga del Sur; and 534,563 from Zamboanga Sibugay.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Region 9 ranked number one in the country for the highest cumulative registration for children one to four years old.
However, the PSA, as the leading implementing agency for the Republic Act No. 11055, also known as the Philippine Identification System Act, faced various challenges in its implementation. One of which is the delay in the distribution of the physical PhilSys IDs which can be attributed to several factors.
PSA Regional Director Mewchun WS. Pamaran explains the process of making the PhilSys ID and the involvement of other government agencies in its delivery to the registrants. “Other agencies are involved in coming up with the national ID. The PSA is more on the registration, and we’re done with it. In fact we have already reached our target,” Pamaran said.
From the PSA, the data will go to the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). It is the BSP that manufactures the physical PhilSys ID. From the BSP, it goes to the Philippine Postal Corporation (PhilPost) which is in charge of its distribution.
To address the delay in the distribution, the PSA came up with a strategy, an initiative of giving out electronic Philippine ID (e-PhilID) that is printed in paper.
“That is not an ordinary ID because the QR code there is very secure,” Pamaran emphasized. When the QR code on the e-PhilID is scanned, a picture that matches the one on the physical ID can be viewed. This allows us to quickly determine if the ID is genuine or fake.
Moreover, PSA collaborates with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and recently launched the Digital National ID to provide faster and smoother transactions which will help the public to have a valid proof of identification.
The digital national ID is accessible in the DICT’s eGovPH app which can be installed in all iOS and android phones and can be used for all public and private transactions.
To institutionalize this move, the PSA and the BSP released advisories for all the banks and government and non-government institutions to accept any form of the National ID, may it be the ePhilID, digital ID, or physical ID.
PSA encourages citizens facing issues to report directly to their office.
“If ever hindi po tinanggap ng isang institution ‘yung ID, any form of the national ID, pwede po kayong pumunta sa amin [PSA], sa tanggapan po namin sa office, and makapag-file po tayo ng complaint, para kami mismo ang magta-take actions,” PSA-9 PhilSys focal Jacob Shaquille Wee said.
(If an institution does not accept any form of the national ID, you can come to us [PSA], to our office, and we can file a complaint so that we can take action ourselves.)
PSA is committed to resolving these issues by working with financial institutions and advocating for the recognition of digital IDs. For registered citizens who have not yet secured their digital national ID, they may access it via http://national-id.gov.ph/ or the DICT’s eGovPH app.
The National ID is a crucial proof of identity that facilitates access to services, enhances security, aids in record-keeping, supports civic engagement, and is essential for legal and administrative functions. It is important to recognize and value its significance, regardless of its form. (EDT/CCP/PIA9)
