Philippines opens digital ID process for infants

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) says progress continues to be made with registration for the biometric national identity card (PhilID) as more than 42 million people have now completed the initial stage of the process.

The authority has also announced that authentication of the digital ID card can be done either on- or offline while parents and guardians can also register their children in advance to avoid any issues with obtaining the card when they grow up.

PhilID registration for infants

The Philippine News Agency (PNA) quotes the PSA as saying that parents and guardians can register on behalf of their children but they are not allowed to take the children to registration centers.

The registration, the PSA says, can be done by parents presenting a infant’s birth certificate at the registration center. Biometrics, including fingerprints, iris scans and front-facing photographs, are then collected starting at 5 years of age. and updated at 15.

“Yes, even babies can register for the national ID. Mothers, you can register your babies so they will not have a hard time getting an ID when they grow up,” the PSA said in a statement last month.

Over 42 million through Step 1 enrolment

The PSA says as of October 1, a total of 42,969,000 people had completed the first step of the PhilID registration which is principally about the collection of demographic information, reports The Manila Times.

At the end of this stage, a date is then taken for the second phase which involves the capture of biometric information.

The PSA also says in order to drive the numbers up, it is turning to institutional registration, and it is doing so in collaboration with government agencies, associations of homeowners, non-governmental organizations, exclusive residences, as well as private companies.

“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 to PhilSys via institutional registration,” PSA Assistant Secretary Rosalinda Bautista was quoted as saying.

Online, offline authentication for PhilID holders

Meanwhile, PhilSys plans to make available to its partners services that will render PhilID authentication simpler and this can be done either online or offline, according to the PNA.

PSA Undersecretary Dennis Mapa said during a recent digital government orientation webinar that “to verify the authenticity of the PhilID, relying parties of PhilSys may perform physical inspections based on the physical security features of the ID.”

Mapa also said they are working to release a QR code verification tool that will allow users and clients to verify data encoded in the PhilID.

Over three million PhilID cards have so far been delivered to their owners, and the PSA said recently that the cards will be used as a digital ID tool to facilitate access to some government welfare programs.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  children  |  digital ID  |  digital identity  |  government services  |  identity document  |  national ID  |  PhilID  |  Philippines