TACURONG CITY, Philippines — The government is optimistic that it can achieve its goal of printing 30.1 million national ID cards and generating 19.9 million digital IDs this year.
Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has transferred to the Philippine Postal Corp. some 17.6 million physical national ID cards for delivery to the residences of applicants as of August 23.
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Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan has reported to Malacañang that in the last 11 days, the daily average of physical cards produced at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' printing facilities is 103,000 per day, higher than PSA’s daily target. PSA is attached to the National Economic and Development Authority, which is headed by Balisacan.
"The Philippine Statistics Authority is confident that it could meet the year-end target of 30.1 million printed national identification cards and the 19.9 million digital ID cards which are printable," a statement issued by the Office of the Press Secretary (OPS) last Wednesday read.
The OPS statement quoted Balisacan as saying that PSA is making "considerable progress" to hit the end-year target of 30.1 million physical ID cards, which is 58% of the overall target. He noted that the government aims to issue 50 million IDs by yearend, 30.1 million of which are physical IDs and the rest are digital printable IDs.
The Marcos administration aims to issue 92 million national IDs by the middle of next year.
In 2018, former President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Philippine Identification System Act, which seeks to establish a single national identification system for all citizens and resident aliens of the country.
The proof of identity was meant to simplify public and private transactions, access social services, and promote financial inclusion. The PSA serves as the implementing agency of the Philippine Identification System.
In his first state of the nation address, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. highlighted the importance of the national ID, saying it would allow citizens to seamlessly transact with the government.
The president has also instructed the information and communications technology department to digitize and harmonize government databases and have their data readily shared across departments and agencies.