The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has rolled out the registration for the national identification (ID) of children below five years old, starting with one to four years old, while the office is perfecting the system for zero-year-olds in Western Visayas.

Jared Barile, focal person for the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) in Western Visayas, said Thursday they enlisted 324 registrants since they started on Feb. 13.

Aklan, Capiz, Antique, and Guimaras kicked off on Feb. 13, while Iloilo and Negros Occidental started with their pilot implementation on Feb. 14.

Barile said since they have yet to announce the full-scale implementation, registration in Iloilo is limited to their centers or the office.

However, they could cater to the age group if the registration teams would see children during their house-to-house saturation drive.

“For now, it is incidental like this if they are with their parents. Once the system is stabilized after a week, then we can implement other strategies targeting below five,” he said.

Barile said they intend to co-locate in daycare centers and visit hospitals and birthing centers.

During the registration, they have to be accompanied by their parents or guardians.

The accompanying adult has to bring their PhilSys ID and an additional authorization letter with the case of guardians. For children, their birth certificate could suffice.

Only the demographic information and a front-facing photo of the children are needed.

They need to return to the registration center to recapture their complete set of biometrics when they turn five.

“We will send out a notification to the parent or guardian 180 days before their fifth birthday, on their fifth birthday, and 180 days before their sixth birthday, informing them to go back to the registration center to capture their biometric information,” Barile added. (PNA)