BSP reminds banks, public to use national ID
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno is encouraging the use of the national ID or the Philippine Identification “PhilID” to help prevent red tape in government.
Diokno said on Saturday, Feb. 26, that the BSP fully supports Malacanang’s Executive Order (EO) No. 162 that institutionalizes PhilID and the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) number as “sufficient proof of identity and age in all government and private transactions.”
"EO No. 162 is supportive of the Duterte administration’s thrust to eliminate red tape in government transactions,” said Diokno.
Based on the EO, no additional proof of identity or age “shall be required upon presentation of the PhilID, PhilSys Number (PSN), or PSN derivative as authenticated.” This will prevent red tape or excessive bureaucracy or complications that require unnecessary paperwork.
The PhilID is also sufficient proof of identity in lieu of a birth certificate to apply for marriage licenses, Land Transportation Office student permits and conductor’s licenses, enrollment for kindergarten, first grade, and Philippine Educational Placement Test passers, as well as Professional Regulation Commission and Bar Licensure Examinations.
The BSP said it “recognizes that the EO will encourage Filipinos, especially the marginalized and those from low-income households with no government-issued IDs, to open bank accounts paving the way for their inclusion into the formal financial system and reducing their vulnerability to onerous lending and other practices.”
Last October 2021, the BSP issued Memorandum No. M-2021-057 reminding BSP-supervised financial institutions (BSFIs) to accept the PhilID, in both physical and mobile formats, as sufficient proof of identity.
As of end January, registrants of PhilSys reached 7,384,553.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) will also soon launch a mobile version of the PhilID as a digital alternative to the physical PhilSys card and the PSA Quick Response Code Verification System, which will promote broader and seamless acceptance of the PhilID by financial institutions for various services.
The BSP said PhilSys will offer online and offline methods for identity authentication through the PhilID physical security features, QR code digital verification, biometric verification, and SMS one-time password. These features will facilitate stronger and more secure methods of identity verification than traditional methods such as manual matching of handwritten signature against specimen.
“BSFIs are likewise directed to include the PhilID in their list of valid IDs to be displayed on their counters, public entrances of their establishments, websites, social media accounts, and other consumer information channels,” said the BSP in its earlier memo.
The BSP prints the PhilID cards and 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.