National ID system on track

The national identification system will be rolled out as planned this year with mass registration to be carried out next year, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

In line with the recent approval of the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) Implementation Plan, the procurement of the technology and issuance of actual IDs to priority segments of the population – like cash transfer beneficiaries – will proceed as scheduled this year.

“We are on track as regards the rollout of PhilSys. We hope to open up registration to targeted communities and release the first batch of IDs late this year. By 2020, we expect the registration system to be more established allowing for more Filipinos to avail of the service,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said.

Phase 1 (January to December 2019) of the implementation plan involves the procurement, testing of core technology infrastructure, organizational development of the PhilSys Registry Office (PRO), and launch of target registration.

Phase 2 (January to June 2020) entails the development and full operationalization of core technology infrastructure, development of a mass registration ecosystem, use case development, and registration of pre-registered persons.

Phase 3 (July 2020 to June 2022) will undertake mass

registration of 110,000,000 Filipinos and resident aliens, including OFWs.

Phase 4 (July 2022 to December 2022), meanwhile, will involve issuing of PhilSys Numbers, or PSNs, to newborns.

National Statistician Lisa Grace Bersales said the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), an attached agency of NEDA, has been conducting workshops on strategic planning since January as well as procurement.

The PSA successfully created the PRO in November 2018, following the publication of the PhilSys Act implementing rules and regulations in October 2018.

Bersales also mentioned earlier that a budget of P4 billion has already been secured for the PhilSys last year until this year, paving the may for the procurement of the technology and the conduct of the proof of concept in time for the targeted start of registration of the priority population.

It would cost at least P30 billion to implement the project over five years. This covers procurement of the system, provision of the free ID, capacity building, information campaign and registration process.

The PhilSys provides for a national identification system that seeks to unify all government IDs into one. It will provide identification to both citizens and resident aliens of the country to facilitate public and private transactions.

Pernia said that despite the numerous IDs issued by the government, 14 percent of Filipinos are still denied of government and financial services due to lack of proper identification documents.

“Having one national ID will strengthen financial inclusion by reducing the cost of transactions through easier authentication procedures. This way, the marginalized will have easier, faster access to public programs,” he said.