A child waste picker. PVI/Willie Sy
MANILA, Philippines – Poor Filipinos and members of the vulnerable sector will be the first to have a national ID.
“Sila ang most affected ng ating TRAIN (Law). There are about 2.6 million. The CCT beneficiaries, UCT, senior citizens, the PWDs, the IPs, the more disadvantaged sector of society,” said Dr. Lisa Grace Bersales, a national statistician at PSA.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) as the primary implementing body of the Philippine System ID, plans to start the processing of the ID this year giving priority to the underprivileged and the vulnerable sector in the first two years of implementation.
The agency reiterates that acquiring the national ID is free of charge. Filipinos only need to present a copy of the birth certificate to avail of it.
“This is very important because almost 40% of the budget of the government goes to social services, such as education, healthcare, social protection, and poverty alleviation,” added Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno.
Once fully implemented, a newly born child will be able to have a PhilSys ID upon registration. Personal information will be updated once the child reaches 5, 15 and 18 years of age.
Any change in information such as marital status will also require updating of the PhilSys registry.
Demographics and biometrics information will be taken care of by the PSA, the only agency that can access the PhilSys database.
The PSA said that though the PhilSys ID is not mandatory to all citizens, access to government and private services will definitely be difficult for non-holders.
“No one will be forced to enroll in the national ID system,” concluded Bersales.
This year, the government has allocated P2B for the early phase of the PhilSys ID implementation. Overall, the government is expected to spend a total of P30B for the production of the national ID of more than 100 million Filipino citizens in a span of three to five years. – Rosalie Coz / Marje Pelayo
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