The Department of National Defense (DND) on Friday committed to provide security support for the realization of the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) across the country.
In a statement, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said he has approved the request of Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua, acting chief of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), to secure the delivery of 4,000 PhilSys registration kits to 655 cities and municipalities nationwide.
Lorenzana said he will instruct the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to mobilize troops who will assist government personnel in the delivery of the registration kits to the 32 targeted provincial offices of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in the coming weeks.
"With restrictions on travel by land, air and sea due to the ongoing implementation of the nationwide community quarantine to curb the spread and effects of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the AFP shall assist in transporting the registration kits to the provinces, strictly following biosafety protocols," Lorenzana said.
The establishment of the national ID system is pursuant to the implementation of Republic Act No. 11055, otherwise known as the Philippine Identification System Act, with the PSA as the lead implementing agency.
The registration kits, each composed of a luggage of equipment and a photobooth kit, will be used during PhilSys registration Step 2, which aims to capture the biometric information of applicants at the registration centers.
The NEDA and PSA aim to accelerate the implementation of PhilSys nationwide with the registration of at least five million household heads from low-income families by the end of 2020.
By 2021, the government seeks to start the implementation of Step 3 which involves the issuance of the registrants' Personal Serial Number (PSN) and the Philippine Identification (PhilID) card.
The PSA said their target is to distribute PhilIDs and PSNs to 92 million Filipinos by the end of 2022.
The national ID system is seen to enable a more efficient system to implement social assistance programs as well as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations in times of emergencies, such as a pandemic.