The rollout of the Philippine National ID has reached a major milestone, with the Philippine Statistics Authority confirming that more than 90 million Filipinos have already been assigned permanent identification numbers.
PSA data showed that, as of October 31, a total of 90,290,024 individuals had been issued their Philippine Identification System Numbers (PSNs). The figure represents about 80 percent of the population whose demographic and biometric details were confirmed as distinct through the system’s verification process.
PSA Undersecretary Claire Dennis Mapa highlighted the impact of reaching this scale, saying: “Over 90 million Filipinos can fully enjoy the benefits of being part of the National ID system, which includes improved access to services through any of the formats of the National ID and more secure transactions through the authentication services.” He also reminded the public that signing up remains open and simple, adding: “While we have successfully registered and verified the majority of Filipinos, we continue to encourage others to register to the National ID—a process that remains easy, convenient, and free of any charge for all.”
Central to the system is its deduplication procedure, which filters out repeated demographic or biometric submissions to ensure every PSN corresponds to one unique person. PSA officials have consistently urged the public to avoid registering twice, saying that duplicate attempts could delay processing and affect the system’s reliability.
Assistant Secretary Rosalinda Bautista, who serves as the Deputy National Statistician of the PhilSys Registry Office, underscored the importance of this process, stating: “Demographic and biometric information of individuals verified as unique ensures that identity verification is more reliable.”
Registration centers across the country continue to accept walk-in applicants with their documents on hand. Details on what to bring and where to go are available on the National ID website.
Government agencies and financial institutions have long pointed to the lack of valid IDs as a barrier for millions of Filipinos seeking to open bank accounts and access formal financial services. The Department of Information and Communications Technology has also encouraged telecom firms to integrate the National ID into SIM card registration to deter criminal activity.
