The race to register 622,000 Boholanos to the unified Philippine national identification system (PhilSys) starts here in Tagbilaran as the Philippine Statistics Authority launches its Step 2 Registration with a Center here,
The launch happened on Feb. 2, 2021, according to a report from the Philippine Information Agency (PIA).
No less than Provincial statistician Jessamyne Anne Alcazaren, City Mayor John Geesnell Yap II and Land Bank of the Philippines Capitol Branch Manager Dexter Ray Ruiz, along with PSA Bohol officials and Bohol Local Civil Registrar Association president attended the ceremonial opening of the step 2 registration with a handful of registrants ready to test the process.
PSA Bohol supervising statistical specialist Jocelyn Sarmiento said the City Registration Center, is the first among the local government units in Bohol, which will process the registration a step further, where registrants’ initial information given during the pre-registration phase would be validated before their biometric profiles are digitally captured.
It may be recalled that since last year, the PSA implemented step 1 of the Philsys Registration focusing on low-income family heads, especially those in the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Listahanan, Alcazaren said.
In light of the Coronavirus disease (Covid)pandemic, prioritizing the head low-income households in the registration process aims to enable them to get their national ID.
These people can use the national ID to open bank accounts so that they would be able to receive their government assistance through the banks.
The goal is to ensure that at least one member of low-income households, who lack identity documentation, has an ID enough to open a bank account, states the PSA in its page on the PhilSys.
Step 3 of the Philsys registration involves the printing of the ID card by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. The cards will be sent to the PSA. The PSA
will be responsible in the delivery of the ID cards to the intended recipients. (Rey Anthony Chiu)