THE Philippine Statistics Authority is on track to roll out the registration for the national identification system that is targeted to start by July.

The agency will continue pilot-testing the registration to see how it can improve the process, PSA Undersecretary Dennis Clare S. Mapa told reporters yesterday.

The pilot registration is being done at the Finance department and House of Representatives, he said.

The statistics agency is targeting about 1,000 registrating for the pilot test by June, Mr. Mapa said.

The national ID system includes registration, automatic biometric system and the card production, among other things.

The PSA earlier signed a memorandum of agreement with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), which will subsidize the production of blank cards for the ID system. The central bank has set aside P3.4 billion for 116 million blank cards that can help more Filipinos open their bank accounts by having their own ID as part of lenders’ Know-Your-Customer process, Mr. Mapa said.

Applicants may register through PSA’s regional and provincial officers by next year. Partners for the projects such as some offices of Philippine Postal Corp., Government Service Insurance System, and Social Security System will also be used as registration centers for the project.

PSA expects to issue 100 million IDS for both Filipinos and aliens by 2022. — Luz Wendy T. Noble

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