At least 106 registration centers have opened across four provinces in Western Visayas for the Step 2 of the ongoing registration for the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys).

The priority provinces for the said phase of registration are Antique, Capiz, Iloilo, and Negros Occidental.

According to Philippine Statistics Authority 6 (PSA-6)  regional director Fred Sollesta, with the continuous rollout of registration centers, PSA-6 recorded 499,167 Step 2 registrants for the first quarter of 2021.

Step 2 registration includes validation of demographic data of applicants and capture of their biometrics such as fingerprint, iris scan, and front-facing photograph.

Sollesta said registration centers will continue to open on staggered and organized schedules in the succeeding weeks, with Aklan and Guimaras registration centers to open in May 2021.

Step 3 of the registration process will be the issuance of PhilSys Number (PSN) and PhilSys ID delivery to the permanent address or to be claimed at the registration center depending on the registrant’s option.

The municipal PhilSys team in partnership with municipal and barangay officials are responsible in informing their respective registrants of their schedules to comply with local ordinances and health protocols for a safe, orderly and successful registration to the national identification system.

Mobile registration was also brought to the island barangays in the region to enable and accelerate PhilSys registration to far-flung areas like in Caluya Island in Antique province. This scheme will be replicated to other similar geographically-challenging barangays in the region for more cost-efficient and safer registration process.

Meanwhile, Sollesta also noted that the PhilSys surpassed its 2021 first quarter target, registering 1,112,241 individuals or 126.28 percent for Step 1 Registration in the region.

Step 1 registration is the house-to-house collection of demographic information to facilitate Step 2 registration./WDJ