The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will produce 116 million blank Philippine ID cards based on the memorandum of agreement it signed with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) to kick off the implementation of the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) Act.
Bangko Sentral Governor Benjamin E. Diokno, in a speech during the signing of the MOA, said the Philippine ID will provide “a means of simplifying public and private transactions” and promote financial inclusion.
"With the 'Philippine ID', unbanked Filipinos will have a proof of identity which is a key requirement in accessing formal financial services. This will enable more of our underprivileged countrymen to enjoy gains from and participate more actively in the country’s growing economy," Diokno said.
Aside from producing the blank cards, Diokno said the BSP will also provide the necessary equipment for the embedding by PSA of personal information onto the blank cards.
"With this Philippine ID, the BSP widens its area of cooperation with PSA. While our number-crunching agencies have a long history of interaction on statistics, the production of national IDs is a trailblazing field for both institutions," Diokno said.
Diokno and National Statistician and Civil Registrar General Claire Dennis S. Mapa signed the MOA on October 7, 2019.
The Philippine ID card is a non-transferable card to be issued to each Philippine citizen or resident alien registered under the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys).
It will facilitate access and application for eligibility to social welfare and benefits from the government. It will also eliminate the need to present other IDs for government, and even private sector, transactions.
While the BSP will produce the cards over the next three years, the PSA will manage the PhilSys database, ensure the availability, confidentiality, integrity, accuracy, and readiness of the data that will be placed in the cards, and undertake the personalization, quality checking and distribution of the IDs.
The PSA earlier guaranteed that a citizen's privacy and security are protected under the PhilSys.
The PSA said PhilSys will adopt the latest technologies, innovations and software with leading-edge features. All transactions and data entered into the system would be encrypted and digitally signed.
The issuance of Philippine IDs is provided under Republic Act No. 11055 or the Philippine Identification System Act, which was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in August 2018.
Pilot registration, covering select groups only, started in September 2019 to test the registration process and systems. (Ventures Cebu)
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