Recto warns delay in nat’l ID rollout due to budget woes

Recto said there is zero funding for the project in the “programmed portion” of the proposed national budget for 2020, while PHP2.4 billion is provided in the “unprogrammed appropriation” which is a tentative allocation dependent if new loans or revenues can be raised. (File Photo: Sen. Ralph Recto/Facebook)

MANILA — Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto on Tuesday warned that the lack of funding for the National ID project could affect its early stage of implementation and eventually derail its rollout.

Recto said there is zero funding for the project in the “programmed portion” of the proposed national budget for 2020, while PHP2.4 billion is provided in the “unprogrammed appropriation” which is a tentative allocation dependent if new loans or revenues can be raised.

Recto, however, said even if the PHP2.4 billion will materialize, it is only about 42 percent of what is needed to meet the project’s objectives and deliverables next year.

“So instead of 14 million Filipinos, less than half, or 6.3 million, will be registered in 2020. And this will trigger a domino effect that will lay in shambles the project’s timetable. The original plan is to enroll 14 million in 2020; 52 million in 2021, including 5 million overseas Filipinos; and 44 million local residents plus 5 million overseas Filipinos in 2022,” Recto said.

“The tunnel-end vision is to register 110 million Filipino citizens and resident aliens and 10 million Filipinos abroad in what is officially called the PhilSys (Philippine Identification System) by 2022,” he added.

The senator said 4.3 million registrants must be processed every month by the 5,000 registration kits placed in mobile and fixed registration centers to meet this deadline.

He noted that the budget lack could affect the early stage of implementation which could affect the future registration quotas.

“The 2020 scheduled procurement lays the foundation of the project. Without this, the project is crippled, the rollout derailed, its future jeopardized,” he added.

He said the ID project is needed to prevent leakages and fraud in the implementation of various multibillion-peso social programs such as the Pantawind Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps, the Universal Health Care, and the senior pension.