MANILA - The Philippine Statistics Authority is aiming to register 70 million Filipinos for the national ID system by the end of 2021, an official said Friday.

"Our registration is ongoing in all provinces in the country," Philippine Statistics Authority Assistant Secretary Rosalinda Bautista told TeleRadyo in Filipino.

The first step of the registration process for the Philippine Identification System started in October 2020 in 32 select provinces, which were considered as low-risk areas for COVID-19 transmission.

In a press release, the PSA said some 20 million registrants have completed step 1 of the registration, which involves the collection of demographic data such as name, permanent address, date and place of birth, and blood type.

This involved the house-to-house collection of demographic information of low-income households, added Bautista, also the deputy national statistician of the PhilSys Registry Office. Low-income families were prioritized to allow faster distribution of future government subsidies.

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Operations for the second step of the registration process continue to roll out on a gradual basis in the 32 provinces, she added.

Step 2 involves the validation of supporting documents and capture of biometric information, such as fingerprints, iris scans, and front-facing photographs at registration centers as per the registrants’ appointments.

As of Feb. 27, more than 162,000 registrants have completed the process.

The third and final step is the issuance of the PhilSys Number and the physical ID. The PSN is a randomly generated number and will serve as a permanent identification number for every registrant.

"It can't be changed and be given to anybody, even after death," Bautista said.

On Thursday, President Rodrigo Duterte received his national ID card, years after he signed into law the PhilSys Act that mandates the government to create a single official identification card for all citizens and foreign residents.

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