DILG bares priority provinces for national ID system

More than 30 provinces will be prioritized in the rollout of the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys), the spokesman of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said on Tuesday. 

At a virtual press briefing, Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said the priority provinces include the following: 

• Region I - Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan
• Region II - Cagayan, Isabela
• Region III - Bataan, Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Zambales
• Region IV-A - Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal 
• Region V - Albay, Camarines Sur, Masbate 
• Region VI - Antique, Capiz, Iloilo, Negros Occidental
• Region VII - Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental
• Region VIII - Leyte
• Region IX - Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao Occidental 
• BARMM - Tawi-Tawi

Malaya said these provinces are already in coordination with the Philippine Statistics Authority as well as with the DILG regional offices. 

"The PSA requested the DILG for assistance in securing a memorandum of agreement with various local government agencies," Malaya said. 

"Humihingi po kasi ang PSA ng MOA so that the different LGUs will give the necessary assistance in terms of pre-registration, the manpower requirement, in terms of transportation, in terms of crowd control as well as other logistical support," he added. 

The DILG spokesman said the mass registration for the national identification (ID) system would push through in October amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"Tuloy-tuloy na po ito until we are able to initially register the five million re-registrants and five million registrants before the end of the year. The rest of the country will be done next year," Malaya said. 

The national ID system seeks to harmonize, integrate, and interconnect the countless and redundant government IDs by establishing a single national identification system.

This ID will contain the PhilSys number, full name, facial image, sex, date of birth, blood type, and address of the concerned individual. —KG, GMA News