Solon seeks inquiry into ‘faulty’ rollout of nat’l ID system

FILE: STEP 2. Applicants for the Philippine Identification card have their photographs taken at a registration center in Barangay Salamanca, Ginatilan, Cebu on July 26, 2021. The Step 2 process is suspended from Aug. 1 to 15 while the province is under modified enhanced community quarantine, just like in Metro Manila that has suspended registration from Aug. 6 to 20 because of the ECQ implementation. (Photo: PhilSys-National ID Registration-Municipality of Ginatilan/Facebook)

MANILA – House Deputy Minority Leader Bernadette Herrera has filed a resolution urging the House of Representatives to conduct an inquiry in aid of legislation, into what she described as the “inefficient, delayed and faulty” rollout of the national ID system.

In filing House Resolution 471, Herrera said the government agencies in charge of the project — Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), and Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) — must be taken to task for their shortcomings.

The Bagong Henerasyon party-list representative even suggested replacing the current PSA leadership due to “inefficiencies” in the implementation of the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys), which was supposed to be a means to improve the delivery of public services.

“An accountability mechanism must be established to allow a closer look into what went wrong, or what may still be improved, in the implementation of the national ID system,” Herrera said.

Established by Republic Act 11055, the PhilSys project seeks to promote inclusive coverage and enable better access to the most vulnerable groups such as the poor, people living in geographically-isolated and disadvantaged areas, indigenous peoples, and persons with disabilities.

When the Covid-19 pandemic affected the country in 2020, then President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the immediate implementation of the PhilSys project to aid in identifying the poorest households entitled to government cash aid during the lockdowns.

The BSP was then mandated to produce and deliver 116 million pre-personalized IDs from 2021 to 2023.

However, the Commission on Audit (COA) noted that as of Dec. 31, 2021, the BSP was able to deliver only around 27.4 million pre-personalized cards — or 76 percent of the 36 million required number of IDs to be delivered for last year.

Prior to this period, COA said the BSP only managed to deliver 8,764,556 personalized cards, or a measly 17.53 percent of the 50 million required number of IDs for calendar years 2020 and 2021.

Citing government records, Herrera said only 21 million Filipinos have so far received their physical national ID cards out of more than 70 million who have already registered, thus jeopardizing the government’s target of 92 million cards delivered by June 2023.

According to COA, PhilSys contractor AllCard has only delivered 27.3 million ID cards as of December last year, which obviously falls below the 36 million annual delivery requirements.

The audit body also noted that out of the total PHP28.4 billion allotted for the PhilSys project, only PHP6.8 billion has been appropriated since 2018.

“The national IDs, if only delivered on time, could have been the reliable card for the expedient distribution of cash aid, fuel vouchers, health benefits and other basic services,” Herrera said.

Apart from the delay in meeting the quota for the number of ID cards to be accomplished, Herrera pointed out that there have been complaints about inaccuracy of personal information and blurry images on the cards, and that the IDs are no longer readable after about three months.

She also cited reports of hacking, which led to concerns that the personal data or sensitive personal information of the citizenry have been compromised.

There are even reports that commercial banks are no longer accepting the national ID as a valid government-issued ID due to the issue of fading or discoloration in addition to the fact that it does not bear the signature of the bearer.

“Based on these circumstances, it is thus imperative that a formal investigation on the causes of these delays, substandard printing, and even the reported hacking be conducted immediately,” Herrera said.