The central bank will print up to 45 million of the national IDs in 2021, almost half of the targeted population, according to a Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) official.

BSP senior assistant governor and head of the Security Plant Complex (SPC) Dahlia D. Luna said they could produce this much, but stressed it will also depend on the number of registrations that the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) will complete next year.

“Basing on the PSA’s target, 45 million pieces of cards will be printed and personalized by BSP for 2021. But that is dependent on the volume of successful registration of personal data which PSA will undertake in 2021,” said Luna. The government is targetting to register 70 million Filipinos for the national ID next year after the Duterte administration added another 20 million to the original 50 million target.

For this year, the BSP is targetting to produce three million of the national IDs, a lower number than what was estimated earlier of five million.

Luna said the BSP was ready to print last November 6 after testing and commissioning the ID-producing machines at SPC in Quezon City.

However, actual printing started mid-November only because the BSP and the PSA had to finalize the card design and changes were made on the name field and QR size, according to Luna. “On November 18, we received the final card design from the PSA and thereafter, we implemented the changes in the plates, and adjustments in machine parameters,” she said. Because of these changes, Luna said, target for the production of blank ID cards until year-end has been scaled down to three million pieces.

The BSP printing machines for the blank cards, which was installed in October, is sufficient for now and there are no plans to acquire additional printers, said Luna.

The memorandum of agreement between the BSP and the PSA designated the BSP to take charge of card production in a government-to-government deal. The PSA will handle the personalization of the IDs or the database and to ensure the “availability, confidentiality, integrity, accuracy and readiness” of the data for the national IDs. The MOA was signed last year, following approval of the Philippine Identification System or Philsys Act or Republic Act No. 11055.

BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said in November that the SPC can print up to 154,000 blank cards per day. The national IDs, which are free, will cost the government P30 per card or a total of P3.4 billion.

As of the first week of December, the PSA has registered 8.4 million Filipinos for national IDs. This is Step 1 which is the collection of demographic information while Step 2, which the PSA will begin on January 4, 2021, is the biometrics recording and validation of fingerprints, iris, and facial photographs. The final stage or Step 3 is the ID card issuance.

By mid 2022, the end of President Duterte's term, the BSP is expected to have printed all of the 107 million national IDs.