Senate resolution seeks inquiry into national ID system

MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Sen. Panfilo Lacson on Wednesday filed a joint resolution seeking a legislative inquiry into the delay in the implementation of Republic Act No. 11055, or the Philippine Identification System Act, despite the over P6 billion allocated to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) since 2018.

The resolution comes amid President Duterte’s statement on Monday, which said the distribution of cash aid to 18 million families gravely affected by the new coronavirus crisis would have been easier had the national ID system been in place.

The two senators noted that the Congress had allotted an initial budget of P2 billion for the PSA to launch the P25-billion national ID program in 2018, and a similar budget in 2019 and 2020, but “there seems to be no significant headway in its implementation.”

The national ID system “would help our law enforcement agencies in fighting crimes and would facilitate key government services and transactions,” the resolution read in part.

—Marlon Ramos