The first batch of the Philippine Identification System (Philsys) registration within the 32 provinces is set to start on Monday.

“For the October and December operations as explained also in the video the registration step one, the collection of the demographic information will start this Monday Oct 12. in 664 cities and municipalities in 32 provinces,” Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Undersecretary Dennis Mapa said on Friday.

“In coordination with LGUs the PSA has identified 32 areas as I mentioned with low risk of Covid-19 transmission as our first batch for the registration process,” he said.

In a previous interview, Interior Undersecretary and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said identified the priority areas as Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan, Cagayan, Isabela, Bataan, Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Zambales, Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Albay, Camarines Sur, Masbate, Antique, Capiz, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental, Leyte, Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao Occidental, and Tawi-Tawi.

Mapa said the second step of the registration is expected to start next month until the end of the year while the third step will start in 2021.

“What will happen after that is that we will have a registration step two or the validation and biometric capture.The finger print, the iris scan and the photograph, this will start at the end of November until December 30 and finally the registration step three or the issuance of the Philsys number or the PSN or the Phil ID will be starting on 2021 onwards so after that the release of the ID will follow soon,” he said.

“So those are the steps and the timeline for Oct to December operations related to the registration of the registrants on selected provinces for the PhilSys,” he added.

Mapa said the PSA is targeting to complete the step one and two registrations of at least nine million Filipinos within the year.

“As mentioned for this operation from October to December, the PSA is aiming to get at least nine million Filipinos to at least complete registration step one capturing of the demographic information and appointment system for the registration step two,'' he said.

Mapa said they will be targeting as many of the nine million to complete the registration step two which is the capture of the biometric information at the registration center and validation of the documents they submitted.

Mapa noted n that despite the threat of COVID-19 the government is targeting to complete the PhilSys registration, procedures and IDs by 2022.

“The target of the government remains, which is to complete the registration and the issuances of the PhilSys number and the ID to all Filipinos at the end of June 2022, our target is about 92 million despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.

“Our priority really is to ensure the safety of the registrant and our registration officers by implementing the PhilSys registration protocol design specifically to address the health and safety standard,'' said Mapa.

After the low income household are registered, the PSA will make the registration available to the public by 2021 thru the help our LGUs partners’ agency and other stakeholders, said Mapa. Robina Asido/DMS