Deputy Minority Leader Bernadette Herrera has filed a resolution urging the House of Representatives, in aid of legislation, to look into the national identification (ID) system’s rollout, which she called “inefficient, delayed and faulty.” 

The government agencies in charge of the project, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), and Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), she emphasized in House Resolution 471 must be held accountable for their shortcomings.

Due to “inefficiencies” identified in the implementation of the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys), which was intended to enhance the delivery of public services, Herrera even urged removing the present PSA leadership.

To enable a closer examination of what went wrong or what may yet be improved in the implementation of the national ID system, she said, “an accountability mechanism must be established.”

The PhilSys project, which was established by Republic Act 11055, aims to promote inclusive coverage and improve access for the most vulnerable populations, including the poor, those who reside in remote and underserved areas, indigenous peoples, and persons with disabilities. 

In order to assist in locating the poorest households eligible for government cash assistance during the lockdowns, then-President Rodrigo Roa Duterte ordered the PhilSys project’s quick implementation after the country was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. From 2021 to 2023, the BSP was required to generate and deliver 116 million pre-personalized IDs.

However, as of December 31, 2021, the central bank was only able to deliver 27,356,750 pre-personalized cards, or 76 percent of the 36 million required IDs for the previous year, according to the Commission on Audit (COA).

Prior to this time, the COA added, the BSP was only able to deliver 8,764,556 personalized cards, or just 17.53 percent of the 50 million IDs that were needed for the 2020 and 2021 calendar years.

In addition to the delay in completing the required number of ID cards, Herrera said that there have been complaints regarding inaccurate personal information, hazy photos, and that the IDs are no longer readable after about three months.

She also mentioned hacking incidents, which raised worries that the public’s sensitive or personal data had been exposed.

It can be recalled that Senator Imee Marcos questioned why the government chose a foreign company with a poor track record for the national ID system contract.

For the Philippine identification system (PhilSys) project, Marcos, the chair of the Senate committee on electoral reforms, claimed that Indian company Madras Security Printers and its Philippine partner Mega Data Corporation were the only qualified bidders before the rules for the bidding process were altered in the middle of the process.

The senator said data from the Philippine Computer Society Foundation indicated that an on-premises system, in which a data center is physically located at a chosen site, is required for the bidding for the national ID supplier. Later, it was modified to include remote data hosting in a cloud-based system. Due to this alteration, all other bids withdrew, leaving only Madras-Mega Data.

The national IDs, according to Herrera, might have been the trustworthy card for the prompt distribution of cash assistance, fuel coupons, health benefits, and other essential services if only they had been supplied on time.

“In fact, Senator Grace Poe, the chairperson of the Senate public services committee, even stated that the long wait of six months to over a year to get the ID is unjustifiable,” she emphasized.

According to the Bagong Henerasyon partylist representative, who cited government records, only 21 million of the more than 70 million Filipinos who have already registered have received their physical national ID cards, putting the government’s goal of 92 million cards delivered by June 2023 in jeopardy.

As of December of last year, AllCard, a PhilSys contractor, reportedly only delivered 27.3 million ID cards, far short of the required 36 million deliveries annually.

Additionally, the auditing authority observed that of the P28.4 billion allocated for the PhilSys project.

The audit body also observed that just P6.8 billion of the P28.4 billion total allocated for the PhilSys project had been appropriated since 2018.

Photo Credit: House of Representatives Official Website