PHILIPPINE IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM SERVICES

1. PhilSys Step 2 Registration

Bangued, Abra – The PSA – Abra Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) Registry Team had registered 16,134 Abreños in 2023. These were the registrants who are 5 years and over under the PhilSys Step 2 Registration. A cumulative total of 188,570 registrants or 81.81% over the target population of 230,488 registrants were successfully registered in the province since the start of PhilSys Step 2 Registration in 2021. (Table 1)

Table 1. PhilSys Step 2 Registration Target Registrants, Total Registration and Percentage of Registration by municipality, Abra: 2021 - 2023

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority: Philippine Identification System – ABRA

Among the 27 municipalities of the province, Danglas had the highest percentage of completion with 97.05 percent, followed by Luba with 95.19 percent and Bangued with 92.38 percent. The PhilSys Fixed Registration Center is located at Bangued. It caters registrants coming from the different municipalities. (Table 1)

The Abra PhilSys Registry Team (PRT) continued the PhilSys Step 2 Registration and exerted all efforts to register the remaining unregistered individuals in compliance to the Chief Executive’s directive to expedite the implementation of PhilSys  to achieve digital transformation of social protection systems in order to enable more efficient, effective and just delivery of social protection programs. Below were the strategies during the conduct of PhilSys Step 2 Registration:

• School-based Registration

The Abra PRT coordinated with different schools, university, and colleges for the conduct of PhilSys operations in their school premises to register the remaining unregistered individuals aged 5 to 15 years old and also the college students. This is in adherence to Office Memorandum No. 2023-34 re: PhilSys School Registration Campaign. The team conducted PhilSys operations in 216 schools and registered 8,456 students for the year 2023. This strategy also aims to increase the number of schools that support the conduct of PhilSys institutional registration and effectively cascade pertinent information to teachers, parents, and students through the conduct of school/class briefing and distribution of Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) campaign materials.

• “PhilSys on Wheels”

The Abra PRT conducted PhilSys on Wheels in three (3) barangays of the province. They conducted this mode of registration at North Poblacion and South Poblacion, Bucay, and Zone 5, Bangued, Abra. This strategy was initiated to help and make it more convenient for students, senior citizens, persons with disabilities, and working individuals who do not have time to go to the registration center. 

• Co-location with Civil Registry (CRS) Outlet

Abra Provincial Statistical Office (PSO) established a PhilSys co-location site inside the Civil Registry System (CRS) Bangued Outlet in adherence to the directive of the National Statistician. This is to cater the clients of the outlet who do not have PhilID yet, especially those who do not have any valid identification.

• Co-location with Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)

Abra PRT established co-location with Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in their educational assistance pay-outs and meetings to render PhilSys services to their social protection beneficiaries. This is also in adherence to the OM No. 2023-144 re: Philippine Identification System Registration of all Department of Social Welfare and Development Programs’ Beneficiaries and Dependent Children.

• Mobile Registration

The Abra PRT conducted mobile registration in most of the sitios and barangays of the province. All barangays in the 26 municipalities of the province were catered except for the municipality of Tineg. This strategy aimed to reach the unregistered individuals residing in remote and far-flung areas.

• Institutional Registration

The Abra PRT conducted PhilSys Step 2 registration in various institutions. This strategy was done to render the PhilSys services closer to the working group in their workplace and to cater also their clients.      

        Table 2. List of Institutions catered in the year 2023

2. Issuance of Printable ePhilIDs

The Abra PRT implemented the issuance of printable ePhilIDs in the province. This is a proactive strategy of the PSA that allows registrants to immediately enjoy the benefits of being PhilSys-registered. The features of the ePhilID contain the registrant’s PhilSys Card Number (PCN) and basic demographic information together with the QR code which is used for authentication. The issued ePhilID has the same functionality and validity as the physical card. Additionally, the issuance of ePhilIDs can now be done in real-time.

Table 3. ePhilID Issuance by year and municipality, Abra: 2022 - 2023

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority: Philippine Identification System – ABRA

The issuance of ePhilID started in October 2022. Abra PRT had issued 137,647 ePhilIDs to registered individuals as of December 29, 2023. This is 125.95 percent of the 109,290 ePhilIDs targeted to be issued in the province. Based on the issuances of ePhilIDs per municipality, the municipality of Bangued had the highest number of issuance with 22,294 ePhilIDs, followed by Bucay with 12,404 ePhilIDs and Tayum with 9,075 ePhilIDs. Daguioman had the lowest issuance of ePhilIDs with only 1,098 ePhilIDs. (Table 3)

3. PhilSys Transaction Number (TRN) Retrieval

The absence of the TRN ultimately hinders a registered individual from obtaining his/her ePhilID and accessing its accompanying benefits. PhilSys TRN Retrieval is another service feature which was added to Registration Client System to allow PRT to promptly retrieve the registered person’s TRN and provide real-time updates on their registration status. The Abra PRT received 459 TRN retrieval requests and granted 336 requests successfully. The possible reasons for those with unsuccessful requests were wrong information provided by the requester, that the requester is still not yet registered to PhilSys, and the data packets cannot be located at the PhilSys backend systems.

4. Replacement of damaged and/or defective front-facing photograph PhilIDs

In adherence to OM No. 2023-44 re: Specific Guidelines and Procedures in Handling Requests for Replacement of PhilIDs with Damaged and/or Defective Front-Facing Photographs, the PSA shall issue a replacement PhilID, free of charge, upon request of registered persons who have received PhilIDs with damaged and/or defective front-facing so that the latter can avail the PhilSys-enabled services. The Abra PRT received 38 replacement requests in the year 2023. 30 of these requests were already successfully processed by the PhilSys Registry Office – ID Processing Management Division (IDPMD) while the 8 requests are still on process.

5. Return-to-Sender (RTS) PhilID Delivery

As indicated in the OM No. 150 re: End-to-end Process for Return-to-Sender PhilIDs, all unclaimed PhilIDs tagged as RTS shall be kept for a period of one year to provide ample time for the PSO to exhaust all means to locate the PhilID owners. As of December 2023, PSO Abra received 203 unclaimed RTS PhilIDs due to changed address (moved-out) or unlocated PhilID card owners and deceased card holders. The Abra PRT re-delivered a total of 92 RTS PhilIDs.

PhilSys Partnership and Linkages

The Abra PRT participated in different caravans and activities of different agencies and government units. Chief Statistical Specialist Felixberto B. Perdido and PhilSys Focal Person Jonnel P. Aveño provided technical assistance to the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Peñarrubia on the PhilSys Integration Plan of their municipality on January 31, 2023. The Abra PRT also rendered PhilSys Step 2 Registration and Issuance of Printable ePhilIDs during the Philippine National Police (PNP) Medical and Outreach Programs at Palang, San Quintin on February 11, 2023, Ampalioc, Luba on July 22, 2023, and Kili, Tubo on November 15, 2023, Red Cross Medical Mission and Health Caravans at Poblacion, Luba on November 17, 2023 and Cabayogan, San Isidro on November 21, 2023, and People’s Day Caravans of Abra Provincial Government at Libtec, Dolores on May 12, 2023 and San Juan East, Pilar  on April 12, 2023 and their Financial Assistance Pay-outs to teachers and students at Abra Sports Complex, Bangued on October 14-15, 2023.

TECHNICAL NOTES

• Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) – refers to the government’s central identification platform for all Filipino citizens and resident aliens of the Philippines.

• PhilSys Registry Team - comprises of PhilSys office-based and registration personnel responsible for all the services of PhilSys.

• PhilSys Step 2 Registration – collection of demographic information, validation of supporting documents, and collection of biometric information (iris scan, fingerprint, and front-facing photograph)

• PhilID – refers to the physical ID card that serves as a valid proof of identity that can be used to transact in different government and private sectors. This ID contains unique security features and the demographic information of the registrant and a QR code used for authentication and verification.

•   ePhilID – refers to the digital copy of the PhilID. It has the same functionality and validity as the physical card.

•    Return-to-Sender (RTS) – refers to the turnover of sealed, unsealed, and undelivered Philippine Identification (PhilID) cards to the Provincial Statistical Office (PSO).