President Duterte and the members of his Cabinet approved the P3.52 billion additional budget for the registration of 20 million more individuals to the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys).
(KING RODRIGUEZ/ PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque made the statement after the Duterte Cabinet met on Monday.
"President Duterte, together with the members of his Cabinet, approved the P3.52-B additional budget for 2021 to register 20 million more individuals (on top of the 50-million target) to the by the end of 2021," he said Wednesday.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) is mandated to lead the PhilSys, with support from the PhilSys Policy and Coordination Board chaired by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and composed of various government agencies.
President Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11055, or the PhilSys Act, into law in 2018 to provide a valid proof of identity for all Filipinos and resident aliens.
The ID aims to boost the delivery of public service, enhance administrative governance, reduce corruption, curtail red tape, and promote ease of doing business, among others.
The new ID, however, will not automatically replace existing government IDs.
The PSA reported last week that registrations for the first step of the PhilSys have reached 8.4 million. The PSA adopted the house-to-house collection of demographic information for the Step 1 registration as a safety measure against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Information obtained from the holder includes age, gender, date and place of birth, address, mobile number, email address, marital status, blood type, and residency status in the country.
Chief statistician Dennis Mapa said that the second step of the PhilSys registration will commence on January 4 next year. Step 2 Registration is the validation of supporting documents and the capturing of biometric information at registration centers.
The PSA is targeting to have 92 million Filipinos registered into the PhilSys by June 2022.