In Cagayan de Oro City, the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Northern Mindanao (DSWD-10) has set a goal to register 529,306 beneficiaries into the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys). This effort is specifically aimed at members of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps). Oliver Inodeo, the focal person for DSWD-10, shared in a recent interview that the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) is gearing up to kick off a registration campaign next month to facilitate greater access to the national ID system for 4Ps households.
Janith Aves from PSA-10 and Ramel Jamen from DSWD-10 are working together to pinpoint the most effective areas for this initiative. The push to register 4Ps beneficiaries into PhilSys stems from a directive by DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian, who has assigned the 4Ps National Program Management Office to manage the registration process.
As of the end of 2024, data from the PSA indicates that 63.16% of 4Ps household members in the region, totaling 907,273 individuals from 243,631 active households, have already registered with PhilSys. To close the registration gap, the PSA plans a focused registration and authentication drive in February and March of 2025.
Kenneth Haze Lustre, the 4Ps Division Chief, highlighted that registering with PhilSys also aids in meeting the Family Development Session (FDS) requirements, which are essential for the conditional cash transfer program. He explained that registering a household grantee counts as one month of FDS compliance, and registering all household members counts as two months, which can lead to an increased cash transfer amount.