‘It was actually the executive department that was remiss in swiftly implementing the law…’
THE importance of the national identification system was felt by both government officials and the public when authorities saw the need to distribute subsidies (“ayuda”) during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Both the House of Representatives and the Senate had been prompt in passing the law — Republic Act 11055 — as the lawmakers saw the need to establish a single national ID system for all citizens and resident aliens in the country. Signed into law by President Duterte in August 2018, the valid proof of identity provided by the PhilSys is a means of simplifying public and private transactions, and will serve as a social and economic platform for the delivery of services and financial transactions. This is a single government ID to replace some 46 different government IDs now being used by the public.
It was actually the executive department that was remiss in swiftly implementing the law, so that when the big public health emergency happened in March 2020, a Cabinet member was fired by the President for being so slow in rolling out the National ID program. If there were IDs given to many Filipinos during that time, the distribution of government financial assistance could have been quicker.
The Philippine Statistics Authority said last March 22 that over 8 million cards have been released, which was 24.2% of this year’s set delivery target of 33.8 million.
To be fair, the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) really tried to hasten the process of data gathering and ID production as soon as the nation notched less and less active cases of COVID. They even got the help and cooperation of barangays in herding residents to schools, malls and other public buildings for the purpose of data gathering.
But the physical ID card has been really hard to come by. Many applicants claimed that their own cards have not yet been delivered a year after applying, and they took to social media to air their complaints.
PhilSys responded by saying it continues to scale up efforts to deliver the national ID to millions of Filipinos by tapping 17 field offices of the Post Office to deliver the cards to those in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas. But even many residents of very urban areas in Metro Manila have yet to receive their cards close to a year after their application and biometrics submission.
At least, PhilSys admits its shortcomings and announced that it will soon roll out its mobile app this year. Registrants who have yet to receive their physical IDs may use its digital version through offline and online transactions with the help of the app.
