Pre-registration for national ID system begins, participation not mandatory: official

MANILA - The Philippine Statistics Authority on Monday began pre-registration for the national ID system, an official said.

PSA personnel will visit some 5 million households until December 30 in different parts of the country where there are low cases of COVID-19, according to deputy national statistician and Assistant Secretary Rosalinda Bautista.

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The PSA abides by the Data Privacy Act and Filipinos' information are secured, Bautista said. Filipinos may decline to give their information to the agency, she added.

"Paglapit po sa inyo isa po sa standard ng proseso ay tanungin ang respondent kung willing siya magparehistro at ibigay ang kaniyang impormasyon. Pag hindi siya pumayag hindi po natin siya pwede ipilit at di rin pwede idemanda dahil ayaw niya," Bautista told ABS-CBN's Teleradyo.

(When they approach you, part of the standard practice is to ask the respondent if they're willing to register and give their information. If they decline, we can't force them nor file charges against them.)

"May karapatan po ang bawat Pilipino na maprotektahan ang kaniyang personal information kaya po yung pagkuha namin ng impormasyon ay talaga pong napaka-secured. Sumusunod po kami sa Data Privacy Act ng 2012."

(All Filipinos have a right to protect their personal information that's why our gathering of data is really secured. We abide by the Data Privacy Act of 2012.)

The National Economic and Development Authority earlier said the pandemic highlighted the need to fully automate the country's data gathering and statistical system.