By Liezelle Soriano

MANILA — The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has been cooperating with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) regarding the investigation of falsified birth certificates.

In its advisory, the PSA stated it has “conducted verification and provided necessary information related to the birth records under investigation to the NBI.”

According to the NBI, almost 200 falsified birth certificates were issued to individuals, most of them Chinese nationals, by the civil registry in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur. These documents were issued between 2018 and 2019, the NBI added.

The PSA reported that the concerned Civil Registrar was relieved of duties by the Local Chief Executive, following the PSA’s recommendation after a fact-finding investigation conducted by the agency in a similar incident last year.

“The PSA assures the public that appropriate measures will be continuously pursued, including conducting thorough investigations, collaborating with law enforcement agencies, blocking doubtful birth records in the PSA database, and building cases for possible filing of petitions for the cancellation of birth records/certificates,” the advisory added.

The agency also encouraged the public to report illegal or unauthorized activities involving civil registration documents (CRDs).

(el Amigo/mnm)

By Liezelle Soriano

MANILA — The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has clarified that there was no data leak in the National ID system, despite circulating information on social media regarding an alleged massive hacking attack on the National ID database.

In its official statement, the PSA emphasized that it promptly investigated to verify the information. After the initial assessment, it concluded that there was no leak in the National ID database.

“As the central authority on official statistics and the implementing agency of civil registration and the National ID system, the PSA takes such allegations seriously and immediately investigated the claims in the said posts,” the statement read.

“Based on the initial assessment, the PSA found no leak in the National ID database.”

The PSA also mentioned that further investigation is being conducted regarding the alleged data leak in the National ID system.

Furthermore, the PSA urged the public to remain vigilant of unverified information circulating online.

(el Amigo/MNM)

By Junex Doronio

MANILA  — Despite the rosy picture that the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) tried to impress that on a year-on-year basis, the employment situation improved, still there were 2.15 million unemployed Filipino workers in January 2024, up from the 1.6 million jobless workers in December last year.

National Statistician, Undersecretary Dennis Mapa on Friday pointed out that the jobless rate in January 2023 was 4.8 percent or 2.38 million unemployed.

He said the jobless rate was seen at 4.5 percent in January, which was higher than the 3.1 percent seen in December.

It can also be noted that on a quarter-on-quarter basis, the jobless rate was also higher compared to the 4.2 percent clip seen in October last year, which corresponded to 2.09 million unemployed workers.

Aside from unemployment woes, the underemployment rate also rose to 13.9 percent from 11.9 percent in December 2023.

This translates to 6.39 million out of the 45.94 million employed Pinoys who were looking for additional work hours or extra jobs.

(el Amigo/MNM)

By Junex Doronio

MANILA — Only 36 out of 1,000 Filipinos are jobless and the trend of declining joblessness under the administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is seemingly encouraging.

This was bared on Tuesday by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) which noted in its Labor Force Survey that the number of jobless Filipinos in the labor force declined further in November 2023.

 “Ang unemployment rate ay naitala sa 3.6 percent, o tatlumpu’t anim sa kada isang libo, na indibidwal na nasa labor force ang walang trabaho o negosyo nitong Nobyembre 2023,” PSA chief and National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa said at a press briefing.

Mapa said the number of unemployed individuals, ages 15 and above, went down to 1.83 million from 2.09 million in October 2023.

The PSA cited that year-on-year, the number of unemployed during the period was fewer by 350,000 compared to 2.18 million jobless persons in November last year.

Mapa further revealed that the unemployment rate stood at 3.6% as a percentage of the total 51.47 million people in the labor force who are actively seeking work.

(el Amigo/MNM)