The government has put a March 2019 timetable to roll out the national identification (ID) system.
“That’s March next year for the start of the registration of one million individuals under the Unconditional Cash Transfers but our timeline to start the registration of 25 million (Filipinos) will be around September,” Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) head Lisa Grace Bersales told reporters on Friday.
Bersales said they will start enrolling citizens who do not have any government-issued ID, including the poor who are beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), indigenous people, persons with disabilities, and senior citizens.
She said the PSA will publish the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) Act on Saturday.
The PhilSys Act, or Republic Act No. 11055, creates a central identification platform for all citizens and resident foreigners in the Philippines. The PSA is the primary implementing agency.
Bersales said the agency will announce the opening of bid procurement for the national ID system by the third week of October.
“We will publish the technical specifications. We hope that by December, we will already be able to finish the procurement. This means we will have already awarded the PhilSys,” she added.
Bersales noted they will conduct a competitive bidding process for procurement.
“If we do competitive bidding, we will be able to manage our timeline of procuring the system and awarding it before the year end,” she said.
Under the law, the Philippine lD will contain the registrant’s biometric information, along with seven demographic data such as full name, sex, date of birth, place of birth, blood type, address, nationality, and three optional information specifically marital status, mobile number, and email address.
The PhilSys Act requires this personal information be kept in a resilient data system to ensure that the people’s right to privacy, confidentiality and other basic rights, such as those guaranteed by the Data Privacy Act of 2012, are upheld. (Leslie Gatpolintan/PNA)
