MANILA – The national identification (ID) system is set to be implemented beginning March next year, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
PSA head Lisa Grace Bersales said in a press conference on Saturday that first to be registered are the one million individuals under the Unconditional Cash Transfers before finishing the 25 million others by September 2019.
“We 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,” Bersales said.
The Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) Act, or Republic Act 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 PSA will announce the start of the 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.
“If we do competitive bidding, we will be able to manage our timeline of procuring the system and awarding it before the year end,” Bersales said.
Under the law, the Philippine ID 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./PN
