Baguio city: The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) is urging all local government units (LGUs) in Benguet and the entire Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) to expedite the development of their local systems for integration with the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) to prevent identity theft and fraudulent transactions. ‘While the number of registered citizens for the national Identification (ID) has steadily increased, there is still a dearth of locally developed systems linked with the PhilSys,” Christy Ngolob, registration officer of the PSA-CAR, said in an interview.

According to Philippines News Agency, the integration is necessary for the authentication of persons registered in the system. Ngolob highlighted that the PSA has received reports of fake national IDs, emphasizing the importance of integrating local systems with PhilSys for verification purposes. To address this, PSA has been briefing local officials in the province on the necessity and benefits of PSA integration with LGU computer systems, advising them to prepare for the process.

Under Republic Act 11055, or the ‘Philippine Identification System Act,’ authentication involves verifying the identity of an individual against the registry information in PhilSys, whether online or offline. Ngolob mentioned that any locally developed application could serve as the local system, provided it meets the PSA’s system link requirements.

The PSA has successfully registered 93.7 million Filipinos, accounting for 98 percent of its target of 95.22 million. In the Cordillera region, 1.47 million residents have been registered, with Benguet leading the number of registrants at 676,077, followed by Baguio City with 250,372. Ngolob also noted that in Benguet’s capital town, 94,275 residents have received their national IDs in paper form, and 68,377 have received the regular national ID cards.