PSA bars walk-in in nat’l ID listing

THE Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in Camarines Sur has recently reminded individuals that the agency will not entertain walk-in registrants for the national ID and advised them to just wait in their homes for PSA registration officers.

The PSA issued the reminder in response to questions about the first stage of registration for the national identification system (PhilSys), where persons belonging to low income households are prioritized as listed under the Listahanan of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

In an interview, Raul Aspe Jr., PSA Camarines Sur supervising statistical specialist, told Bicol Mail that walk-in registration is not allowed by the Interagency Task Force (IATF) to prevent Covid-19 transmission in their office.

He said registrants who are in the priority list should proceed to the second stage of the registration process being conducted at the Bicol Science and Technology Centrum at the Naga City Hall compound.

He added that people belonging to average and high income households should just wait for PSA registration officers to visit their houses.

Aspe said once the registration officers have completed the collection of essential information about all the household members, they will be given an appointment code.

According to PSA Camarines Sur, some 400,000 individuals have already registered in Camarines Sur and Naga City as of Feb. 22, 2021.

So far, there are 2,784 applicants who had already accomplished the second stage and are just waiting for the issuance of their IDs, which will be distributed through house-to-house delivery, Aspe said.

He said the second stage include finger printing, iris scanning and picture taking.

Meanwhile, a government employee who requested anonymity expressed his opposition to the national ID system. He said the collection of personal information for the ID may violate the right to privacy of the individual.