THE Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has welcomed the directive of President Rodrigo Duterte to integrate the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) into the government agencies’ processes and services.
The agency hoped that after the national ID becomes sufficient in all government-related transactions, private institutions would follow suit.
Duterte, through Memorandum Circular 95, dated Feb. 7, 2022, directed all government agencies and government-owned or -controlled corporations, including departments, bureaus, offices, government financial institutions, chartered institutions, and state universities and colleges, to identify services, processes, identification systems and databases for PhilSys integration.
“The PSA welcomes this directive. Through this memorandum circular, we anticipate the partaking of the various public establishments in providing seamless, more secure, and more convenient transactions to every Filipino,” said PSA undersecretary Dennis Mapa in a statement.
The integration of the PhilSys Number (PSN), Philippine Identification card, and other key features of the PhilSys in government institutions is expected to enable online and paperless transactions and remove duplicates from registries.
“We hope that with this development, more private institutions will follow suit in recognizing the PhilID for easier and safer delivery of services to every Filipino,” said assistant secretary Rosalinda Bautista, Deputy National Statistician of the PhilSys Registry Office.
Under the circular, government agencies are tasked to prioritize the development of their two-year PhilSys Integration Plans, containing timelines for integration, responsible units, budget for implementation, and the inclusion of PhilSys in their strategic plans and programs.
Agencies are also mandated to coordinate and enter into agreements with the PSA for effective and efficient implementation of PhilSys integration, particularly on authentication processes and proper control of the PhilID.
The PhilSys Integration Plans are to be submitted within 60 days from the effectiveness of Memorandum 95 – or by April 8, 2022 – to the PhilSys Policy and Coordination Council, the policymaking body for the implementation of Republic Act 11055 or the PhilSys Act, for monitoring.
The government aims to register 92 million of the country’s population in the National ID system by the end of 2022. This would include some 31.3 million Filipinos who are set to receive their physical IDs this year.
Latest data showed 6.304 million Filipinos have already received their National ID cards and 7.351 million have opened bank accounts with the Land Bank of the Philippines.