Over 50 million national IDs issued

MANILA, Philippines — More than 50 million physical and digital versions of the Philippine identification (PhilID) or national ID have been issued by the government to registered Filipinos, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

In a statement yesterday, the PSA said it has issued a total of 50,176,726 PhilIDs and ePhilIDs.

Of the total issued, 25,126,407 PhilIDs had been delivered as of Feb. 28 this year, while 25,050,319 ePhilIDs, including 770,559 downloaded ePhilIDs, had been issued as of March 3.

The PSA earlier said it was aiming to issue a total of 50 million physical and electronic versions of the PhilID by the end of last year, with 30 million of them physical ID cards.

National Statistician and Civil Registrar General Dennis Mapa said the milestone is another step toward the goal of having more Filipinos benefit from being registered with the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys).

“We are ensuring that all those who have registered with PhilSys will get their PhilID and ePhilID,” he added.

Both the PhilID and ePhilID can be used for transactions that require proof of identity, according to the PSA official.

At present, the agency continues to work with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for the production and printing of the ID cards.

It is also coordinating with the Philippine Postal Corp. (Post Office) for the delivery of the PhilID.

The PSA said ePhilIDs are being issued through registration centers, as well as plaza-type distribution and house-to-house delivery.

In line with PhilSys’ goal to help strengthen financial inclusion, the ePhilID allows registered individuals to access financial services.

So far, over 8.4 million previously unbanked Filipinos have been onboarded to the Land Bank of the Philippines through PhilSys.

The PSA said it is also working with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to ensure that there are no duplicates in the social protection program beneficiaries in Listahanan or the information management system identifying poor people across the country.

Currently, Listahanan includes 30.49 million individuals.

The PSA and DSWD earlier forged a partnership for the latter’s adoption of the PhilSys for the identification and verification of the beneficiaries of its social welfare programs.

To check if ePhilIDs are available for claiming, PhilSys-registered individuals can visit https://appt.philsys.gov.ph.

Those who have received an official text message from the PSA may download a portable document file or PDF copy of the ePhilID in their mobile devices.