The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has increased the number of national IDs it will print this year to 70 million from the previous target of 45 million, according to its highest-ranking official.

“BSP is committed to deliver the card volume requirements of the PSA (Philippine Statistics Authority),” said BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno in a virtual briefing Thursday. “By the way the new target is 70 million, not 45 million IDs by end-2021,” he added.

The government is targeting to register 70 million Filipinos for the national ID this year. At the end of 2020, the BSP printed three million cards.

In January this year, the BSP’s printing of national IDs were in question after complaints were filed with the Ombudsman against central bank officials including Diokno, relating to the procurement for the printing of cards.

According to Diokno, the BSP continue to be PSA’s partner in the national ID card production. He said the BSP currently chairs the inter-agency committee on the Philippine Identification System or Philsys used cases created by the Philsys policy and coordination council to “promote used cases such as (for) financial inclusion.”

“Philsys is a game changing initiative of the Philippine government which the BSP fully supports,” said Diokno.

The BSP pursued the national ID production as this would propel its financial inclusion initiatives to new levels of success.

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 MOA was signed in 2019 following approval of the Philsys Act (Republic Act No. 11055).

The BSP has the capacity to 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.

The card production is done at the BSP’s Security Plant Complex in Quezon City where banknotes are also printed and coins are minted.