MANILA — The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has announced that it has printed more than 3.6 million ePhilIDs, which is the digital equivalent of the PhilID or National ID.
Officer-in-charge of the PhilSys Registry Office Fred Sollesta appeared on PTV’s Laging Handa on Thursday and said that they breached the 3.6 million mark on Wednesday.
According to a previous statement from PSA on Tuesday, the digital/printed ePhilIDs will be eligible for various government and bank transactions.
The PSA, however, previously said printing on paper was only temporary, as it struggled to print and roll out the plastic identification cards.
The PSA’s initial target last July was to distribute 20 million digital IDs and deliver 30 million physical cards by the end of the year, leading to a goal of 50 million distributed national IDs.
This goal was set by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself.
“Ang ating target for the end of the year, sa December 2022, na makapag-generate tayo ng 20 million, at least 20 million ePhilID. Yung pregeneration natin ngayon, ay nasa 11.15 million na, and right on track sa ating target by the end of the year sa 2022,” said Sollesta.
PSA Undersecretary Dennis S. Mapa stated that “every registered person will receive their physical card even if they have already claimed their printed ePhilID.”
The agency stressed that the printed digital IDs were still as good as physical, plastic ones.
In a previous advisory, the PSA said that “the printed ePhilID will be honored in transactions as a valid and sufficient proof of identity and age, subject to authentication in all national government agencies, local government units (LGUs), government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs), government financial institutions (GFIs), financial institutions, and private sector”. (Jean Mangaluz © Philippine Daily Inquirer)
