National ID fiasco

Our government bureaucracy is not known for getting things done quickly and properly. That’s because we do not have a bureaucracy based on merit. We have a bureaucracy with more people doing less than what is expected of them. Our bureaucracy is held captive by our politicians and that explains a lot of what’s wrong with it.

But there are islands of excellence, or at least, there used to be. The Department of Foreign Affairs and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas are two examples of government institutions I used to respect. I started my career being assigned to cover the DFA, and there I met impressive foreign service officers who knew their business and, at least at the time, seemed to be above corruption.

When I started writing on economics, the folks at the BSP also impressed me. They were qualified for their jobs, and they also did not seem to be corrupt. Maybe, I thought, that’s partly because they are the highest-paid government officials.

Salaries aside, the performance of DFA and BSP officials in recent years has been somewhat disappointing. Because of the sensitivity of printing our passports and the national ID, both jobs were entrusted to these two top agencies. And the results have been pretty bad.

BSP was responsible for printing passports until then-governor Amando Tetangco Jr. decided that was not BSP’s function. Later, Ben Diokno, when he was BSP governor, wanted to take back the passport printing job. The experience of BSP in passport printing had not been good. There were delays to the point that no passports could be issued some years ago.

When DFA took back the responsibility, their contractor took their database with all of our passport information. Worse, some Chinese travelers were caught by immigration presenting genuine Philippine passports. The quality of our passports used to be so bad it caused problems for Filipino travelers at immigration checkpoints abroad.

Now to the National ID. It is a multi-billion peso project of the Philippine Statistics Authority under NEDA, whose printing was the responsibility of the BSP. The production was subjected to a public bidding, so a private entity effectively printed the ID using their own people and equipment but located at the security printing building of BSP. That being the case, why was BSP involved at all? Couldn’t NEDA and PSA conduct their own bidding process and supervise the production of the ID thereafter?

As it happened, the implementation of the ID project was a mess. The delays were horrendous and the quality of the IDs produced in many cases was subpar. Now there is an arbitration case after BSP canceled the contract won by a private company. There are accusations back and forth, and the courts and the arbitration panel should be allowed to sort that out.

But now the question arises: how can a premier agency like the BSP botch the supervision of such a straightforward project as the production of ID cards? The SSS and the GSIS didn’t have problems with their ID cards. If there were problems with the supplier, that should have been identified early on by the BSP, and remedial measures taken. Public complaints had been aired for quite a long time before BSP acted.

Among the problems found by COA with the printed national IDs were the fading photographs and erroneous personal information of the cardholder. The photographs on the ID should last for at least five years, not vanish within a year. BSP’s failure to manage the project damages its reputation.

BSP has managed the economy and our monetary system rather well. Our BSP governors are internationally recognized as among the best, if not the best. How can the institution fail at a simple printing project? Maybe the BSP leadership regarded the ID project as not worth too much of their attention until the failure became an ugly blot on BSP’s otherwise good image. In hindsight, it was wrong to get BSP involved at all.

The only justification I can see for BSP’s involvement with the National ID launch is its eventual use by the banking system. But right now, the banks would rather use my senior citizen ID, which is ridiculous because it has no security features and can be obtained off the streets in the university belt.

Next time, let NEDA, DFA and PSA handle their own printing requirements. BSP has bigger worries and shouldn’t be saddled with distractions like printing the National ID.

The peso’s value

Speaking of the BSP, I got this email from Benjamin Uy, a reader of this column.

“I am proud to be a Filipino and trust the Philippine peso more than any currency in the world. People, including bankers, ignore what is written on that piece of PROMISSORY NOTE, the peso bill, which states unequivocally ‘Ang Salaping Ito ay Bayarin ng Bangko Sentral at Pinanagutan ng Republika ng Pilipinas.’

“This is translated literally from the Commonwealth Peso Bill (Victory Notes): ‘This is a liability of the Central Bank of the Philippines and Guaranteed by the Republic of the Philippines.’ This is an express commitment and never implied like the US dollar, British pound and other currencies.

“The British pound states, ‘Bank of England - I PROMISE TO PAY THE BEARER ON DEMAND THE SUM OF (the amount shown on the note).’ The Philippine peso is not only a promise to pay but is GUARANTEED BY THE REPUBLIC. Let’s trust the Philippine peso; our natural resources and everything are put up as a guarantee for the note.

“This leads to a question on the demonetized peso. What happens to the liability and guarantee? Isn’t it confiscatory, depriving the holder of the government promissory note, by putting a deadline for redemption and dishonoring the old notes? The banknote is supposedly a ‘perpetual’ obligation and guaranteed.”

Boo Chanco’s email address is [email protected]. Follow him on X @boochanco.