COTABATO CITY – The Philippine Statistics Authority in North Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat provinces started Monday to gather data for the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys), prioritizing about 328,000 individuals in both areas.
In North Cotabato, Provincial Statistics officer Belinda Penuela said a total of 200,000 indigent individuals in five pilot barangays in each town would be prioritized in the registration activities that will last until March 31.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) identified the target indigents in every barangay based on the highest poverty incidence.
Penuela said as the government's response to low-income households seriously affected by the pandemic, having the national ID is an advantage because it will fast-track fund assistance processing through bank transactions.
“I am happily waiting for them (enumerators) to come and list me up. I'm glad the government has this reach out program,” said Eduardo Mariano, of Bacalan, M’lang, North Cotabato, as he prepared to give his demographics data during the registration process on Monday.
Mariano, a farmer, said he could not go to the village center or the town proper to register for national ID due to the pandemic.
He preferred to stay home as advised by the government because he belonged to the vulnerable sector.
In Sultan Kudarat, Provincial Statistics officer Herlita Caraan said field supervisors and data enumerators are already in the field since Monday to conduct house-to-house demographic data gathering.
Caraan said as part of Step 1, an appointment will be given to each qualified registrant indicating when and where to proceed (location of registration centers) for the next step.
Under Step 2, the registrants' biometric information will be captured, such as iris and fingerprint scanning and front-face photograph.
“The release of the IDs will follow,” she said.
Both Caraan and Penuela assured that minimum health protocols would be properly observed during the whole process of data gathering. They also appealed to local government units of Sultan Kudarat and North Cotabato and the public to support the PhilSys program.
Signed into law by President Rodrigo R. Duterte in August 2018, Republic Act 11055, or the Philippine Identification System Act, aims to establish a single national ID for all Filipinos and resident aliens.
The national ID shall be a valid proof of identity that shall be a means of simplifying public and private transactions, enrollment in schools, and the opening of bank accounts.
It will also boost efficiency, especially in dealing with government services where people will only need to present one ID during transactions. (PNA)
