Medium Rare
On All Souls Day when millions of the living were back at work or doing their WFH chores, I chose to register my existence with the state’s stamp and documentation to prove it.
It is not as if I had no passport or senior citizen’s card or a driver’s license, but that’s just the point. A national ID should be enough proof from hereon in – as good as proof of life? – of one’s existence. After all, how many people need a passport until traveling abroad becomes a dream come true? Who needs a senior’s ID until they become old? How many living souls want a driver’s license if they don’t own a car?
Citizenship and other qualifications are not the issue. It appears that all that the Philippine Statistics Authority is interested in is whether you qualify as a statistic, five years old and up. Because there are no fees to pay, there’s no bureaucracy to get in the way, no long queues, no forms to sign and receipts to issue, no big and little bosses looking over one’s shoulder, no whiff of corruption at work or under the tables.
At Eton Centris registration center, and thanks to the young people working there, the process was over in 20 minutes. It helped that we showed up at lunchtime; there were only three people ahead of us.
A few surprises were in store. I filled a form but it turned out to be redundant as my name was already in the data base. I was asked to remove my earrings and “wipe off a little of your lipstick, ma’m,” and to cover my sleeveless shoulders (which necessitated my going to the store next door, where I bought a cotton blouse priced at P175 to wear over my shirt). In addition, makeup is not allowed. Neither are necklaces, “sando” (undershirt), and contact lenses.
Documenting your identity in PhilSys (Philippine Identification System) entails capturing your eyes and fingerprints in addition to the words that define you: name, age, address, civil status.
The masked 24-year-old who took my biometrics assured me I will get my national ID card “in two to six months.” I wonder, will that be before or after my booster shot?