The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said that as of March 15, 2023 said that more than 60 million physical and virtual national identification cards (IDs) have been printed.

According to the agency, they were able to print a total of 60,326,990 Philippine Identification System (PhilIDs) and ePhilIDs.

This is being used for the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys).

The PSA also said that of the said figures, there are 3,550,575 that were sent for delivery, and 26,776,415 were printed at registration centers.

“Reaching 60 million national IDs printed brings us closer to fully realizing the envisioned benefits of PhilSys of making more services accessible,” PSA Undersecretary Dennis S. Mapa, National Statistician, and Civil Registrar General said.

“That’s why our coordination with government agencies such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development centers on using PhilSys to support the implementation of social protection programs. Gusto namin na ngayon pa lang, maunawaan na ng ating mga beneficiaries ang kahalagahan ng PhilSys sa pagiging mas accessible ng iba’t-ibang serbisyo ng ating pamahalaan,” he added.

Meanwhile, Mapa said that they are continuously coordinating with the Philippine Postal Corporation for the delivery.

They are also implementing the downloading of password-protected ePhilIDs via mobile devices.

The PSA said that both the PhilID and the ePhilID bear a QR code that can be used for easier identity verification and authentication.

This is opposed to the more traditional methods that involved handwritten signatures which can be easily forged.

“Verifying a registered person’s identity is as easy as scanning the QR code of the PhilID or ePhilID through our identity authentication tool, PhilSys Check,” Usec. Mapa added.

“We encourage registered persons to use their smart device or computer to access PhilSys Check to verify their PhilID or ePhilID,” he said.

Catherine R. Cueto