The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) prodded the local government units (LGUs) on Tuesday, Aug. 9, to enhance their persuasive skills to convince the public to register with the Philippine Identification System (PhiSys) and get their ‘national ID (identification card).’
DILG Secretary Benjamin ‘Benhur’ Abalos Jr. made the call as he urged the LGUs to support the pledge of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. in expediting the delivery of almost 50 million PhilID cards by year's end.
“We again call on LGUs, especially the barangays, to extend their full support to the President and the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in the National ID campaign. Enjoin your constituents to get a National ID for easier validation and authentication of identity in their transactions with government offices, banks, and other private entities,” Abalos said.
He insisted that the LGUs should take the lead in explaining the importance and value of having a national ID which will serve as an official proof of identity for public and private transactions.
Abalos pointed to the punong barangays (barangay captains) as key messengers of the President’s call for the public to avail the national ID by disseminating printed and electronic materials, making roving announcements and sharing registration-related updates from the official PhilSys social media pages.
“Kailangang masigasig ang mga LGUs at mga barangays sa kampanyang ito (availment of national ID) dahil gusto nating ang lahat ay magkaroon ng maayos na pagkakakilanlan para na rin mabilis silang maasikaso at makatanggap ng mga serbisyo ng gobyerno at ng mga pribadong opisina (The LGUs and the barangays must strongly push for this campaign because we want all to have an orderly identification documents to enable them to be provided with their needs and appropriate services from the government and private sector),’’ Abalos said.
In his first State of the Nation Address (SONA), Marcos Jr. said “the National ID will play an important part in his administration’s pursuit for digital transformation, for citizens to be able to seamlessly transact with the government, their identities easily verifiable.”
“We expect to issue 30 million physical IDs and 20 million digital IDs by the end of this year. The target is to accomplish the issuance of about 92-million IDs by the middle of next year,” the President said during his SONA.
Abalos explained that having a PhilID becomes even more relevant during these times when almost everything is going digital and IDs are often required for online transactions, e-shopping, opening of e-bank accounts, and digital payments, among others.
He noted that the PhilID will also be beneficial to low-income individuals who usually find it difficult to transact with and seek assistance from public and private offices which usually require two or more government IDs.
“Ang PhilID lang ay sapat na (document). Hindi na kailangan pang hingan o magpakita ng iba-ibang ID sa pakikipag-transaksyon sa pampubliko o pribadong tanggapan (PhilID is sufficient. There is no need for the people to be required or present various IDs in government and private transactions),’’ he added.
The DILG chief pointed out that Republic Act (RA) 11055 or Philippine Identification System Act, imposes a fine of P500,000 for not recognizing the national ID and without a valid reason for doing so.
Records from the Philippine statistics Authority (PSA) showed that the total number of registrations completed as of July 1 is 69.254-million (75.3 percent) out of the 92 million target for 2022.
In addition, the Philippine Postal Corporation (PhilPost) has distributed 14.397 million PhilID cards.
The DILG is a member of the PhilSys Policy and Coordination Council (PSPCC) which is tasked to formulate policies and guidelines to ensure effective coordination and implementation of the PhilSys.
It is also the pilot department in the entire executive branch for on-site registration for the PhilSys with some 1,704 people registering in the system during the activity. (Chito A. Chavez)