LIKE all monumental failures, the story of the Philippine National ID System started as a promising program proposed and adopted by the government with the aim of fast-tracking the delivery of service to the public.
Republic Act 11055, the Philippine Identification System Act, was signed into law by former President Rodrigo Duterte on Aug. 6, 2018. It established PhilSys which would handle the Philippine Identification card (PhilID) that could be used to simplify both public and private transactions.
The implementation plan originally targeted the production of 10 million cards in 2020, 40 million in 2021, 42 million in 2022, and 24 million in 2023, or a total of 116 million cards from 2020 to 2023.
On Oct. 7, 2019, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) signed a memorandum of agreement for the supply of 116 million PhilID cards by the end of 2023, for a total budget of P3.4 billion.
‘As if the long delay isn’t enough, the COA reported that “the quality of produced and delivered PhilID cards did not meet the requirement provided in the Terms of Reference…’
As of Jan. 20, 2023, only 22.6 million PhilID cards have been delivered to registrants, according to the Commission on Audit (COA). In many places, citizens who had patiently lined up for their biometrics during the pandemic are still waiting for their IDs, two years after their registration.
It can be recalled that during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in March-April, 2020, President Duterte was furious because the government’s subsidy distribution to the people was stymied by the lack of a national ID, two years after the PhilSys law was passed. This caused the resignation/firing of Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia. Then Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Gov. Benjamin Diokno should have been pressured by the President to resign, too, because he had a more direct participation in the national ID snafu. But instead, President Bongbong Marcos rewarded Diokno with the powerful position of secretary of the Department of Finance, to be capped with an even extended power over the soon-to-be-formed Maharlika Investment Fund.
During its budget deliberation, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said that it targets to release 92 million PhilID cards by the end of 2022. But as of Jan. 26, 2023, only around 29.8 million PhilID cards, or 32.4% of the original cumulative target, have been dispatched to the Philippine Postal Corp. for delivery.
As if the long delay isn’t enough, the COA reported that “the quality of produced and delivered PhilID cards did not meet the requirement provided in the Terms of Reference; thus causing delay to the PhilSys project of the government.”
The BSP attributed the turtle-pace rollout of the IDs to the COVID-19 pandemic. But COVID as an alibi for the delay can only go so far, since the pandemic is all but finished for several months now. Also, the legislative branch has appropriated P22.1 billion for the implementation of RA 11055 from 2018 to 2023. Budget utilization data from PSA showed that its disbursement from 2018 to 2022 amounted to P13.9 billion or 69.2 percent of appropriations.
Marikina Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo is on track in seeking a congressional inquiry on the utilization of billions worth of funds for the implementation of the Philippine Identification System project. Since Congress has oversight functions and responsibilities, it is time to use these in looking into one of the biggest embarrassments of the government.
