PSA Central Luzon ready for national ID distribution to 4Ps beneficiaries by March

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Regional Office here will start issuing national identification (ID) cards by March next year.

On Monday PSA Central Luzon Regional director Edgardo G. Pare expressed confidence that the regional office can start distributing national ID cards to about 1 million beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), otherwise known as the conditional cash transfer of the government under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), which aims to eradicate extreme poverty in the Philippines.

Pare said the PSA has already finalized the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for the national ID that will officially pave the way for the implementation of the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys).

Pare added the bidding will start for the billions of peso contract for the PSA system which is already in place but will be further improved and handled by the winning bidder.

Meanwhile, PSA chief and National Statistician Lisa Grace Bersales has announced that the IRR was published in a broadsheet of national circulation on October 6, the day after its approval.

“We would like to report to everyone that we were able to craft and finalize the implementing rules and regulations of the Philippine Identification system and this was approved by the council on October 5,” Bersales said.

She added that the publication of the IRR “was really the stamp for the PSA and the council to already do the implementation of the PhilSys.”

Republic Act 11055, which was signed by President Duterte in August, mandates the creation of a central identification platform for all citizens and resident foreigners in the Philippines. This will effectively do away with the need to claim and present various government-issued IDs for personal and financial transactions.

Bersales said before the year ends, the PSA will do a “proof of concept” to test the end-to-end system and processes for the national ID issuance.

She said the PSA will be enrolling 1 million unconditional cash transfer beneficiaries of the government for the proof of concept and will start with the procurement of the full PhilSys system next year.