The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)-Iloilo Provincial Statistical Office achieved its registration target for 2021 as 1,613,724 Filipinos completed their Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) Step 2 Registration as of Dec 31, 2021.
The number exceeded the target workload of 1,571,029 registrants in the previous year.
Despite the ongoing pandemic, PSA Iloilo was able to expand its operations, reaching out to even the most remote barangays and far-flung island communities.
Step 2 Registration, which involves validating supporting documents and collecting biometric information such as iris scans, fingerprints, and front-facing photographs, began in January 2021 nationwide, however, registration in the City of Iloilo officially started on Feb 2, 2021.
To meet the government’s mandate to fast-track the implementation of the PhilSys, PSA Iloilo employed various strategies to ensure that registration targets were met.
Through the conduct of mobile and institutional registration and through the implementation of novel strategies like placing of pop-up registration kits near vaccination centers and areas with high foot traffic, the office was able to negate the impacts brought about by the various community lockdowns in the PhilSys Step 2 operation.
As of December 31, 2021, a total of 5 fixed registration centers and 27 mobile registration teams are operating in the province.
Aside from registering Filipinos to the PhilSys, the PSA also partnered with Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) to advance greater financial inclusion in the country through account opening booths at selected PhilSys co-location areas in the province.
PhilSys registrants can use the LANDBANK prepaid cards to safely and conveniently manage funds, withdraw cash, perform cashless transactions, shop and pay bills online, and receive government subsidies digitally.
For Step 3 Registration, the PSA is continuously working to expedite the delivery of Philippine Identification (PhilID) cards to registrants together with its partner agencies: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for the card production, and the Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost) for the door-to- door delivery.
However, delays in the issuance of PhilIDs are to be expected, as the government is prioritizing the distribution of PhilIDs to those belonging to the low-income households identified in DSWD’s Listahanan.
As of December 27, 2021, a total of 259,929 individuals have already received their PhilID cards.
These cards are also planned to have a digital version through the soon-to-be-launched PhilSys mobile app.
Registrants who have yet receive to their PhilIDs can already use this alternative mobile ID ahead of the physical card.
