PARAÑAQUE CITY, (PIA) -- The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) bared that  37.2 million Filipinos have taken the initial step towards registering for the Philippine Identification System or PhilSys as of July this year.

According to NEDA, from zero registrations on the onset of the pandemic last April 2020, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that as of July 2, 2021, around 37.2 million individuals have been registered for step 1 or the demographic data collection. Some 16.2 million individuals have also completed their step 2 registration or biometrics capture. Moreover, 343,742 registrants have received their PhilID cards.

“The COVID-19 crisis underscores the need to provide unhampered access to banking and social services for all Filipinos, especially the poor. This is why the President gave the directive to accelerate the implementation of the Philippine Identification System or PhilSys to provide all Filipinos a unique and digitalized ID,” said Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua.

To safely roll-out PhilSys amid the pandemic and meet social distancing requirements, the PSA adopted a three-step registration process. The first step is the demographic data collection, which can be done through house-to-house or online registration. The second is the biometrics capture at designated registration centers. And the third is the issuance of the PhilSys Number or PSN and PhilID card.

PhilSys also partnered with the Landbank of the Philippines (LBP) to allow registrants to open bank accounts in registration centers. As of July 2, 2021, 4.4 million registrants have applied for an account with the LBP.

In a memorandum, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said that the PhiIID “should be accepted as official and sufficient proof of identity without the need to present any other identification documents.”

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) likewise recently ordered all local government units to recognize the PhilID in public and private transactions.

“We aim to register 50 to 70 million Filipinos with the PhilSys and achieve 100 percent financial inclusion at the family level by the end of the year. This will help the government efficiently identify beneficiaries for social protection programs and spark the widespread use of electronic payments to accelerate the digital economy,” Chua said. (NEDA/PIA-NCR)