THE Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said it targets to produce the first batch of the National Identification (ID) cards before the end of the year even as it underscored that data privacy tops its priorities.
Should the timeline be followed, the agency could start printing before the year ends, said PSA legal service Henedine P. Palabras during the public forum on the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the Republic Act 11055 or “An Act Establishing the Philippine Identification System” at SMX Convention Center on Tuesday, September 25.
“We are hoping na maisagawa ng December. Sana masunod yong timeline depending on the circumstances kasi kung magtuloy-tuloy,” she said. (We are hoping to implement this in December. We hope to stick to the timeline.)
The forum in Davao City was the second public consultation aimed at gathering inputs, ideas, and insights from the public for the drafting of the IRR of of RA 11055 or the Philippine Identification System or PhilSys.
“After this, we still have to consider the inputs that we have gathered from three cluster public consultations. It will go through the process because we have Technical Working Group (TWG) created by the council na mag-aayos to determine whether or not pwedeng ipasok itong mga suggestions if it is still within the law,” Palabras added.
All public inputs shall then be presented to the council composed of various agencies.
During the public consultations, among the usual concerns raised by the participants were on what the requirements would be when they register, apprehensions over security and questions on data privacy.
She said the law provides huge penalties for those who will be found guilty of violating it. The information on the national ID is similar to other government-issued IDs.
“The PSA, as the implementing agency, is working well with the DICT regarding the security and also National Privacy Commission which happens also to be a member of the PhilSys council,” she cited.
Palabras said government agencies could still issue IDs, which would not be invalidated by the national ID. But their vision really is to have a single national identification system for all transactions, she added.