By Rjay Zuriaga Castor
The Philippine Statistics Authority has announced that individuals with physical national IDs containing defects should surrender them for replacement.
Provincial Statistical Office officer-in-charge Jerry Dolutan said in a press conference on Tuesday that they have received reports indicating that information on some national ID holders has been wiped out or erased.
“May ara kita sang mga first batch sang mga national ID nga nadala naton nga may mga problema, nagkapanaas ang larawan ukon ang barcode sa likod. You can surrender it to our office para ma-replace naton ang defective IDs,” he said.
He emphasized that IDs can be surrendered at their office or at registration centers in malls, and replacements will be provided free of charge.
Dolutan stressed that the glossy plastic material used for printing the IDs makes it prone to erasures.
Based on data from PHLPost, over 1.3 million individuals in Iloilo who have registered with the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) have already received their physical identification cards.
Meanwhile, out of the 2.5 million in Iloilo, almost 2 million and 50 thousand individuals have already been registered for the step 2 registration of PhilSys.
The second step in the registration includes the validation of supporting documents and the collection of biometric information such as iris scans, fingerprints, and a front-facing photograph.
Dolutan said PSA is intensifying its efforts to register more individuals through its PhilSys on Wheels and PhilSys on Boat programs to reach out to remote barangays and enlist those who have not registered for their national identification cards.
