The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has so far registered over 40 million Filipinos into the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys)--the central identification platform for Filipino citizens and resident aliens of the country.

"As of 31 October 2021, a total of 40,264,550 Filipinos have completed their Step 2 registrations which involve verifying the registrant’s demographic information and capturing their biometric data, such as fingerprints, iris scans, and front-facing photographs," PSA said in a statement on Wednesday, Nov. 10.

This means that the PSA is closer to achieving its goal of registering at least 50 million Filipinos by the end of 2021.

PSA Undersecretary Dennis S. Mapa has commended the efforts of PSA personnel and partner agencies in implementing the PhilSys.

"The PSA salutes all those who contributed to this milestone for the PhilSys Step 2 Registration. As we are nearing the conclusion of another year, we look forward to attaining our goals in registering the general population to PhilSys. Rest assured that the PSA, together with its field offices and partner agencies, are working diligently and in unison despite the pandemic to ensure that more Filipinos can use their PhiIIDs to access various services," Mapa said.

PSA also encouraged more citizens to register to PhilSys to have easier access to social protection, health, education, and other government services.

In partnership with the Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank), the PSA has implemented a co-location strategy allowing more than 5.9 million PhilSys registrants to voluntarily open a bank account as of Oct. 21.

Landbank has co-located with 493 PhilSys registration centers in 446 cities and municipalities nationwide, of which 25 registration centers are within the National Capital Region (NCR).

The initiative also aims to achieve greater financial inclusion for all Filipinos.

With the use of the Philippine ID (PhilID) or national ID card, unbanked Filipinos will have proof of identity which is a key requirement in accessing formal financial services, making them less vulnerable to onerous practices such as the "5-6" lending scheme illegally practiced in grassroots communities.

Step 3 or the final step of registration involves the issuance of a unique and private identifying number to registrants or the PhilSys Number and delivery of the PhilID.

As of Oct. 31, more than three million Filipinos have already received their PhilID.