MANILA -- Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia has called for faster movement on the establishment of data centers to accommodate the increased number of registrants in the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) starting next year.
“The data centers should already be in place right now, if not, at least by December so they are usable in early January 2020. We need to act more swiftly and ensure that we will have no delays in the implementation of the National ID. We want to complete the entire process on schedule, i.e., by mid-2022,” Pernia said in a statement.
The Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) Policy and Coordinating Council (PSPCC), chaired by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), met on Friday to discuss the early results of pilot test registration held in September, and identify potential bottlenecks and issues to be addressed.
A total of 525 select individuals from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) beneficiaries and Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) employees were registered during the pilot test registration conducted from Sept. 2 to 25, 2019.
Based on results from the pilot test, the PSPCC discussed ways to further reduce the processing time so as not to make people wait too long.
The processing involves screening, demographic and biometric capturing, and printing of transaction slip.
PSA Undersecretary and National Statistician Dennis Mapa said they will be expanding the number of registrants for the November to December rounds to capture more data, especially for registrants at ages 60 and above to develop better-queuing strategies before the official exponential rollout by June 2020.
For card production, PSA recently signed a memorandum of agreement with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
Under the agreement, PSA will take charge of the database management, the accuracy of the personal information to be placed in Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas-produced blank cards, and undertaking the personalization, quality checking, and distribution of the IDs.
Acknowledging the complexity of implementing a secure national ID system, Pernia said government agencies must collaborate and help hasten the implementation of PhilSys.
He urged government agencies to overcome bureaucratic red tape, saying this is precisely what the PhilSys ID wants to reduce.
“We know that budget is limited and that government procedures, rules, and regulations can be very restrictive. But it is incumbent upon us to find new ways of doing things for all of us to be efficient and to make transactions hassle-free for citizens,” Pernia added.
The series of pilot test registrations will run from September 2019 until May 2020 before the mass registration scheduled in June.
The PSA aims to register almost all Filipinos in the PhilSys by mid-2022.
The PSPCC was organized under RA 11055, or the Philippine Identification System Act, “to formulate policies and guidelines to ensure effective coordination and implementation of the PhilSys”. (PR)
