Production, distribution of national IDs to be completed by 2024 — PSA

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Thursday said there is "a good chance to complete the production and distribution" of the national identification cards (IDs) by next year.

PSA Deputy National Statistician Fred Sollesta said at the public briefing that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the PSA are in communication to find ways to accelerate the printing of national IDs.

“Kung hindi man siya matapos within this year siguro next year, we have a good chance to complete 'yung mga distribution and production ng mga physical cards,” Sollesta said.

(If it doesn't finish within this year, maybe next year, we have a good chance to complete the distribution and production of physical cards.)

“So ngayon kasi out of the 79 million registrations, 'yung physical card na pini-print sa BSP, we are now at 37.8 million. So may mga 20 to 21 million pa tayo,” he added.

Currently, out of the 79 million registrations, the physical cards that the BSP is printing, we are now at 37.8 million. So we still have about 20 to 21 million remaining.)

Sollesta said the number of registered individuals is currently at 79.12 million, and the agency was able to generate 76.17 million Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) numbers.

As of May 2023, PSA said it had printed a total of 65,050,382 million Philippine Identification System (PhilIDs) and ePhilIDs.

Of the figure, 31,204,200 were delivered as of May 19, while 33,846,182 ePhilIDs were issued as of May 20.

"We ensure all the citizens na nag-register sa national ID will also receive the physical card which is printed at BSP," he said, adding that those who haven't received their printed IDs can claim their ePhilIDs via https://appt.philsys.gov.ph.

Like the physical card, claiming a printed ePhilID is also free of charge. It also has features similar to physical cards, such as a unique QR code that can be scanned for authentication, which would be accepted in various transactions.

Meanwhile, the PSA clarified that only PhilSys IDs to be delivered in the City of Manila were affected in the Manila Central Post Office fire.

"PhilPost was able to give the number, around mga 7,500 ang affected. They have already forwarded the information including the data kung anong mga cards ang affected. We target that sometime in June, marerelease natin 'yan sa PhilPost para ma deliver sa mga registrants," Sollesta noted.

(PhilPost was able to give the number, around 7,500 were affected. They have already forwarded the information, including the data on what cards were affected. We target that sometime in June, we will release it to PhilPost to be delivered to the registrants.)—AOL, GMA Integrated News