No more jockeying for P3.4B printing of national IDs: BSP to do it
The jockeying for the juicy contract to print national IDs for at least 116 million Filipinos is over.
To prevent delays that usually follow a contentious bidding process among private contractors, the government decided to take matters into its own hands and print the ID cards itself.
On Monday, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) signed a memorandum of agreement with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) to produce blank cards for IDs under the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys).
The printing of the ID cards – which is expected to be in the hands of every Filipino by 2022 – will cost a total of P3.4 billion out of the total PhilSys project cost of P30 billion.
BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno and PSA Undersecretary and National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa signed the agreement.
Under the deal, the BSP shall produce 116 million pieces of cards over a period of three years for “Phil IDs” which are nontransferable cards to be issued to all Philippine citizens or resident aliens registered under the PhilSys.
PSA’s roles under the agreement include, among others: managing the PhilSys database, ensuring the availability, confidentiality, integrity, accuracy, and readiness of the data that will be placed in BSP-produced blank cards, and undertaking the personalization, quality checking and distribution of the PhilIDs.
BSP Senior Assistant Governor Dahlia Luna said each ID card will cost P30, but will be provided to citizens free of charge.
The card will become the official proof of identity for each Filipino and will eliminate the requirement for two government IDs when transacting with companies like financial institutions, Diokno said.
The scheme will also make the so-called know-your-customer process efficient for private institutions, with a recent BSP study showing that costs associated with validating clients’ identities will decline by 80 percent under the national ID scheme.
Republic Act No. 11055 or the Philippine Identification System Act mandated the establishment of the Philippine Identification System for all citizens and resident aliens of the country. PSA is the primary implementing agency for the law.
Mapa explained that current time motion analysis under the pilot program showed that an applicant will be able to register for and receive his national ID in 15 minutes, although this could take slightly longer for senior citizens who have physical limitations./TSB
