Filipinos who have not received their national IDs flooded the comments section of reports on Philippine Identification cards.
The Philippine Statistics Authority announced on Wednesday, May 18 that over 10 million national IDs or PhilIDs have been delivered nationwide.
The PSA stated that they were able to meet 33.7% of their total target this year with a total of 10,548,906 cards delivered as of April 30.
The government agency also posted this update via PhilSys’ social media accounts.
“Mahigit 10 MILLION PhilID cards na ang matagumpay na nai-deliver nationwide!” PSA said.
“Patuloy na ipinapaalala sa publiko na ingatan ang PhilID at ang PSN letter kapag natanggap ito. Iwasan rin po natin ang pag-post nito sa social media,” it added.
The delivery of PhilIDs is the last step in the long process of the government’s national ID registration.
Pre-registration started way back in October 2020.
Several problems, however, had hounded the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) during the registration and delivery proper.
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Filipinos previously took to Twitter to ask PSA about the statuses of their physical ID cards since last March.
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When media outlets reported PSA’s status on their target, those who have yet to receive their cards trooped to the comments section to air out their frustrations over the delay.
Some online users said that they are not part of the “10 million” despite waiting for more than a year for their national IDs.
“Ang malas ko naman. Isang taon na over 10 million di pa naisama. Nauna pa yung mga huling nagstep 2,” one Facebook user said.
“At sa 10 million na yun di pa rin kami kabilang,” another user commented.
Some Filipinos also complained that they were the only ones left to not receive their IDs despite registering earlier or with their friends and family.
“Hello…sa akin at sa misis ko wala pa rin. Kasabay ko lang nag apply bunso. Sa kanya naideliver na samantalang yung sa akin wala pa. Mas nauna pa nga si misis nag-apply pero hanggang ngayon wala pa,” one user said.
Priority for low-income families
Some Filipinos also made similar complaints under PhilSys’ Facebook post.
The page administrator later replied to one of them.
PhilSys initially apologized for the slow delivery of physical IDs.
It then stated that the PSA’s current priority recipients are from low-income families who have registered since 2020.
“Nais po naming humingi ng paumanhin at pang-unawa. Sa kabila ng limitasyon na dala ng pandemya, tinitiyak ng PSA ang patuloy na produksyon at delivery ng PhilID sa milyon-milyong Pilipino na matagumpay nang nakatapos ng kanilang PhilSys Step 1 and Step 2 registration,” PhilSys said.
“Kasalukuyan naming prayoridad ang paghahatid ng PhilID sa mga low-income families na nairehistro mula noong 2020 at mga unang buwan ng 2021,” it added.
In the meantime, PhilSys suggested to the user to track the delivery status through its tracking website.
“Maaari niyo ding malaman ang ‘status’ ng delivery ng Transaction number na makikita sa pirasong papel na ibinigay noong Step 2 registration sa PhilSys. Bisitahin lamang ang https://tracking.phlpost.gov.ph/ upang makita ang status ng PhilID. Maraming salamat po!” PSA said.
The page administrator also encouraged registrants to await the launch of their mobile app and the digital versions of their national IDs.
“Samantala, antabayanan ang paglulunsad ng PhilSys mobile app, ang alternatibo at digital na bersyon ng PhilID na maaari nang gamitin habang naghihintay sa inyong aktwal na card,” the comment reads.
‘A milestone’
Amid these criticisms, PSA Undersecretary Dennis Mapa, National Statistician and Civil Registrar General, considered the ten-million delivery as a “milestone” of the national ID program.
“PSA recognizes this milestone as an outcome of our collective efforts with partner agencies and the field offices involved in producing and delivering PhilID cards to our registrants nationwide,” Mapa said in a statement.
“We are determined to continue to put forth initiatives that will accelerate PhilSys operations across all sectors,” he added.
