Mass production, issuance of national ID set for July

MANILA, Philippines — The mass production and issuance of the national ID is set to kick off in July as part of the promotion of financial inclusion by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said the central bank is coordinating with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) for the procurement of service providers that will handle the printing and distribution of Philippine IDs.

President Duterte signed Republic Act 11055 or the Philippine Identification System Act mandating the establishment of the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) for all citizens and resident aliens of the country.

“At present, the procurement for the service providers to handle the printing and distribution of Philippine IDs have commenced,” Diokno told reporters.

He said the BSP entered into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the PSA last October.

Under the agreement, the BSP will produce 116 million pieces of Philippine IDs to be issued to all Filipinos and resident aliens registered under the PhilSys.

“Mass card production and issuance is targeted to start by July 2020,” he said.

The BSP chief said PhilSys benefits the unbanked Filipinos who will have a proof of identity needed in acquiring financial products and services.

“With PhilSys, a person does not need to submit more than one proof of ID when opening an account because the law states that the national ID should be a sufficient basis of identification,” he added.

The BSP is now coordinating PhilSys project timelines with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) after signing a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the PSA last year.

The BSP is also facilitating the registration of BSP employees from its head office as part of the pilot run of the National ID Project.

This aims to capture the biometric information of BSP employees needed in the production of lDs.

“PhilSys is universally-beneficial for Filipinos as it provides a reliable and nationally-accepted proof of identity. Having this proof of identity has far-reaching benefits, especially in promoting financial inclusion,” he said.

The BSP chief said he intends to double the number of Filipinos with formal bank account to 70 percent by 2023 from the current level of about 35 percent.