By Leslie Gatpolintan/PNA
MANILA — The government will start testing the design for the national identification (ID) system in the first quarter as it aims to initially register five million Filipino citizens this year.
Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) head Lisa Grace Bersales said the proof of concept, or testing the system, will provide information technology (IT) people and those involved in the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) with information on what needs to be adjusted on the design that the country will procure in May or June.
“So, the plan is, by the end of the first quarter, early second quarter, we should have learned already about the system that we designed. Not just the IT but also the processes –process of registration, of getting like a transaction number, of waiting for your ID cards…,” she said in an interview over the weekend.
Bersales said the PSA will partner with Philippine Postal Corporation (PhilPost) as the registration center to undertake the proof of concept.
She said they will enroll some selected groups prioritizing indigent families, indigenous people, and senior citizens to test the system.
“But we would also want to test our mobile registration during this proof of concept,” she added. “So, September 2019 is the target to start the Philippine ID system.”
Starting 2020, Bersales said they target to register for the system 26 million Filipinos per year.
“In five years, we should be able to register all 106 million (Filipinos) while we already start the issuance of national IDs to new-borns. Kasi pag nag register ng birth, bigyan na natin ng ID number (Because when they register birth certificates, we will give them ID numbers),” she added.
