CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)-7 has temporarily postponed the implementation of the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys).
PSA-7 regional director Engr. Ariel Florendo said that they are supposed to start the registration for the PhilSys or commonly known as the national ID on Wednesday, November 25, 2020.
But due to the series of typhoons that hit Luzon, Florendo said that their head office had experienced delays in the delivery of registration kits to the different regions.
“Supposedly, November 25 should be the start of the registration, katong na pre-register. Due to the kaning ilang experience sa Luzon nga dunay bagyo, mao tong na-delay or na-hamper,” Florendo said.
He added that they are still waiting for an additional memorandum from their central office, as to when they will start the registration.
Florendo revealed that initially, they are targeting more than 919,000 individuals in Central Visayas that will avail the issuance of the national ID.
Of that number, 462,000 are from 32 local government units (LGUs) in Cebu Province.
He said that these individuals are identified through the Listahanan 3 or list of poor families in the region from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-7.
PSA-7 regional director Engr. Arnel Florendo | CDN Digital photo by Futch Anthony Inso
Due to this, Florendo urged those who have already received a schedule for the national ID registration to no longer visit the designated registration center of their LGUs, and just wait for further announcements.
The chief admin officer of PSA-7 Edwina Carriaga also explained the benefits that Filipinos will get from acquiring the national ID.
“This is an ID, this would tell you who you are. In terms of transacting, wala nakay pangutana kay this is a national ID and recognize ni sa tibuok Pilipinas,” Carriaga said.
Florendo also said that they are targeting to complete the issuance of the free national ID within 5 years./rcg