By EJ Roque/Philippine News Agency
MANILA — The government is set to pilot test the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) or national ID system from September to December this year, Malacañang on Tuesday said.
“There will be a pilot testing which will run from September to December 2019 to register a substantial number of Filipinos nationwide,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a statement.
Panelo said Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia and newly-appointed National Statistician Dennis S. Mapa gave updates on the PhilSys implementation during the 38th Cabinet meeting in Malacañang on Monday (June 10).
“By the end of the President’s term in 2022, 107 million Filipinos are targeted to be registered,” Panelo said.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) earlier said in a House oversight committee hearing that it will be targeting an initial batch of about six million individuals for the PhilSys.
The PhilSys is one of the social protection programs agreed upon by economic managers to be implemented faster.
President Rodrigo R. Duterte, in earlier reports, ordered the best and safest approach in the implementation of the PhilSys amid security concerns from various groups.
On Aug. 6, 2018, Duterte signed Republic Act 11055 creating PhilSys or the National ID, which serves as a single official identification card for all citizens and resident aliens of the Philippines.
Under the law, the national ID shall contain a person’s PhilSys number, full name, gender, blood type, place of birth, date of birth, marital status (optional), mobile number (optional), address, front facing photo, full set of fingerprints and iris scan.
Duterte earlier said the PhilSys will boost his administration drive against “social menaces of poverty, corruption, and criminal issues, as well as terrorism and violent extremism”.
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