Minors, elderly allowed to leave homes for national ID registration

MANILA, Philippines — Minors aged 15 to 17 will be allowed to go out of their houses, but only to register for the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys), presidential spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said yesterday.

Roque said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) also eased the pandemic restrictions for citizens 65 and above for the same purpose.

He said the move is in compliance with the PhilSys Act, which paves the way for the new national ID system that will also be used for the distribution of financial support in response to the health crisis.

Registering for the national ID will also help fast-track the government’s COVID-19 vaccination program, said Roque.

Spearheaded by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), PhilSys collects biometric data and other information such as a person’s face, name, fingerprint, iris biometrics, sex, date of birth, blood type and address.

PhilSys is a digital personal data platform for the government and private sector to automatically verify individuals’ identities in order to facilitate their in-person and online transactions and reduce fraud.