A national identification registration was conducted at the Parole and Probation Office (PPO) in Tagum City a few days before 2021 ended.

Employees, clients, and their families participated in the December 27 and 28 registration, organized by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) – Davao Regional Office and PPO Regional Director Benjamin Cutay and Community Resource Development team head Joyce Rendon.

The PPO, under the Department of Justice, is mandated to “conserve and/or redeem convicted offenders and prisoners who are under the probation or parole system”.

The institutional registration strategy aims to accommodate the formal sector by ensuring that the working population from government and private institutions have a safe and convenient Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) registration, the PSA said previously.

“In the same manner that we reach out to local government units to assist in the registration of low-income households and the general population, our efforts also extend to reaching out to middle-class and upper-class income families for them to register with PhilSys via institutional registration. We want every Filipino to take the opportunity to register as we move towards the digital society we envision with PhilSys,” Assistant Secretary Rosalinda Bautista, Deputy National Statistician of the PhilSys Registry Office, earlier said.

More than 50 million Filipinos have finished the Steps 1 (demographic) and 2 (biometrics) registration process that will enable them to get their Philippine Identification (PhilID) cards.

The Philippine Postal Corporation will deliver the ID cards free of charge.

Signed into law by President Rodrigo R. Duterte in August 2018, Republic Act 11055, or the Philippine Identification System Act, aims to establish a single national ID for all Filipinos and resident aliens.

The national ID shall be a valid proof of identity that shall be a means of simplifying public and private transactions, enrollment in schools, and the opening of bank accounts.

It also seeks to boost efficiency, especially in dealing with government agencies where people will only need to present one ID during transactions. (PNA)