Manila: About 92% of Iloilo's population has registered for the national identification (ID) system as of Thursday, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). PSA Iloilo Chief Statistical Specialist Jerry Dolutan reported that 2,345,027 individuals have registered since the national ID registration began in February 2021. This year alone, 64,369 individuals have registered, comprising 14,139 children aged 0 to 4 and 4,093 senior citizens.
According to Philippines News Agency, Dolutan stated, "We have registered almost 92 percent of our population, and we do not stop. We have an ongoing mobile registration. We go around the province in coordination with our local government units." The 2024 Census of Population indicates that Iloilo province has 2,082,616 residents, while Iloilo City accounts for 473,728. The remaining 8 percent of the population primarily consists of Filipinos working abroad and beneficiaries of social protection programs.
Registration efforts continue at the PSA Iloilo provincial office from Monday to Saturday and at the government center in SM City Iloilo. Although national ID registration is voluntary, Dolutan explained that the document is utilized by various government agencies to authenticate and validate beneficiaries of social protection programs. "This is one way for the government to authenticate and verify to ensure that the programs are availed by legitimate beneficiaries," he added.
The PSA has been conducting co-location activities with the Department of Social Welfare and Development during payouts for the Unified Package for Livelihoods, Industry, Food and Transport program, where beneficiaries must have a national ID. Starting July 27, the PSA will also collaborate with the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. office in La Paz district to assist members who do not yet possess a national ID. The agency will further participate in payout activities for the emergency cash-for-work program of the Department of Labor and Employment.
In addition to new registrations, the PSA is addressing requests to update demographic information. Dolutan reported that 6,892 individuals have been served, mostly for changes in marital status. The PSA is also awaiting instructions from its central office regarding the updating of biometric information, currently under pilot testing.
Meanwhile, the delivery of physical national ID cards has been temporarily suspended as the PSA prepares to assume responsibility for both printing and delivery operations. Previously, printing was managed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and delivery by the Philippine Postal Corp. While awaiting physical cards, the PSA Iloilo has issued 47,319 national IDs in paper form.
