Taguig launches unified ID system

The Taguig City government has launched the Taguig Citycard, a unified identification card system this week and will issue residents one card that they can use for various transactions within the city, including for withdrawing their monthly salary.

“Our city has grown and developed for the past seven years. Now, we have to make our constituents feel this ongoing progress. The Taguig Citycard can deliver the city’s economic gains to each and every Taguigeño, through the social benefits that they so rightly deserve,” Mayor Sigfrido Tiñga said during the signing of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) with Land Bank of the Philippines officials.

The agreement provides for Landbank to issue 352,000 cards for free to the city’s employees, members, students and residents in the next four years. The cards will either have an automated teller machine (ATM) payroll account function or cash card function.

The first to receive the benefits of the Citycard are the city government’s regular employees. Starting next month, city hall employees will be able to withdraw their salaries using their Citycard through ATMs nationwide.

The Citycard is equipped with a radio frequency identification chip that allows it to store records and other transactions. The RFID is a read and write recorder of all the Citycard owners’ dealings.

With the RFID, the card combines features of an identification card, monitoring card, ATM, and cash Card. Cardholders can use it to withdraw their salaries, stipends and allowances, anytime and anywhere. They can also take advantage of the electronic payment system and pay for their purchases through point-of-sale terminals at supermarkets and department stores.

Taguig Citycard head Willy Malay said the card comes with exclusive privileges for cardholders. Taguig residents, for example, can avail themselves of discounts on select hospital services and basic laboratory tests at the Taguig City Hospital.

Each Citycard holder can also avail of a healthcare package of up to P25,000, starting this October.

The Taguig Citycard will also be used for free burial services or burial assistance. It can be also used for cashless shopping and dining, transportation, enrollment in various establishments in and outside Taguig in the near future.

Malay said that while the Citycard is initially available to the city’s residents, non-residents working in the city, business establishments and VIPs are also entitled to acquire the card.

Aside from a voter’s ID or Commission on Elections registration card, an applicant needs to present a valid identification document, barangay clearance and current community tax certificate.