The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has registered 80.54 million Filipinos to the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) as of September 1, the agency said in a statement yesterday.
The figure represents 87.5 percent of the population aged 5 years old and above.
Within this group, the PSA said 78.12 million individuals have already been issued a unique PhilSys number.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Postal Corp. has delivered 38.51 million PhilIDs to date, while the PSA has issued 40.61 million ePhilIDs which can be used for transactions needing proof of identify and age.
“The issuance of PhilID and ePhilID is meticulously managed by the PSA, with a rigorous quality assurance process and stringent protocols in place. This ensures that every card accurately reflects an individual’s valid demographic and biometric (front-facing photo) data, further enhancing the system’s integrity,” the PSA said.
The PSA called on Filipinos to utilize the benefits of being registered to the PhilSys by using their PhilID and ePhilID in accessing financial services.
The agency said registered persons can now present sufficient and valid proof of identification in various transactions in financial institutions, such as opening basic deposit accounts (BDA).
The PhilSys’ colocation efforts with the Land Bank of the Philippines were recently cited by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in the 170 percent increase in the number of BDAs opened to 21.9 million in the first quarter of 2023 from 8.1 million for the same period in 2022.
“As more registered persons receive their PhilID and ePhilID, we encourage them to use it in their transactions with financial institutions to gain access to financial services and products, that can open opportunities for them,” Claire Dennis Mapa, PSA undersecretary, said. – Angela Celis
