The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in Negros Oriental said more than 7,000 children aged 1 to 4 have already signed up for the national identification program, an official said Monday.

Engineer Ariel Fortuito, PSA-Negros Oriental provincial chief, told the Philippine News Agency that a total of 7,698 registrants for the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) were recorded as of May 11.

The registration for this particular bracket (toddler/pre-schooler) started last Feb. 14, he said.

Fortuito said they are maximizing their mobile registration efforts by going to the different daycare centers and other pre-school institutions to reach as many small children as possible before the school year ends.

“The upcoming school break will be a big challenge for us to locate these children and we will be asking the barangays to help locate them,” he said.

Fortuito said the parents are required to register first with PhilSys program before they can sign up their children.

In the absence of a parent accompanying these children for registration, a guardian or any adult may be allowed provided that they have authorization from the parents, he added.

Meanwhile, the target registration for the youngest sector aged 0 to 4 is 144,368, although it has not started yet. (PNA)