Agencies tasked to implement the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) or the national ID program apologized to Filipinos for the glitches in the pilot launch of the online registration.

During the pilot launch last Friday, April 30, the website was unable to process simultaneous registration requests of around 46,000 people, making the page inaccessible.

“While this is an unfortunate experience, the volume of Filipinos wanting to register online shows that there is high demand for the national ID. Once we have the national ID, we will be able to deliver more and better government services to the people and help in our country’s recovery,” said Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Chua, during the televised briefing with President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday, May 4.

The government earlier collected data in October 2020 by going house to house. The online registration, if successful, would drastically hasten the process.

National Statistician Dennis Mapa said in a briefing on Wednesday, May 5, that so far, around 33.3 million individuals have finished the first step of the registration or basic information collection.

Some 6.4 million individuals have already finished the second step, which involves the capturing of biometric data.

Also for the second step, 2.6 million have already opened bank accounts or indicated their account details. Future cash assistance from the government may be coursed through these bank accounts.

The third and final step is the issuance of the PhilSys number and physical ID. The ID will be mailed to the registrant’s address through the Philippine Postal Corporation.

Mapa said the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) will announce the soonest possible time when Filipinos can register online again.

He noted that currently, their system can only accommodate up to 35,000 requests at a time. Around 25,000 were able to register recently, despite the glitches during the first day. (READ: National ID law: Here’s the law, plus a quick summary)

“The PSA is sincerely apologizing for this inconvenience but we are working currently with an international expert to increase our capacity efficiently,” Mapa said.

The government is aiming to register up to 70 million Filipinos into the system in 2021 and wants all families to have access to financial services. – Rappler.com