Duterte gets his national ID

BY ARGYLL GEDUCOS

President Duterte has registered himself to the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys), official photos from Malacañang revealed.

Photos sent to Palace reporters late Thursday showed the President having his biometric information taken as he had himself registered to the system.

He was also seen interacting with the encoder of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) before he underwent the registration process.

The President likewise held his thumb up as he posed for a photo while holding his printed national ID card.

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and President Duterte’s long-time aide Senator Bong Go also had themselves registered to the PhilSys.

President Duterte signed Republic Act (RA) No. 11055 or the Philippine Identification System Act in August 2018. It aims to establish a single national ID for all Filipinos and resident aliens. It also consolidates government-issued IDs but will not automatically replace existing ones.

The ID aims to boost the delivery of public service, enhance administrative governance, reduce corruption, curtail red tape, and promote ease of doing business, among others.

Last month, President Duterte and the members of his Cabinet approved the P3.52 billion additional budget for the registration of 20 million more individuals to the PhilSys by the end of 2021.

The PSA is mandated to lead the PhilSys, with support from the PhilSys Policy and Coordination Board chaired by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and composed of various government agencies.

In December last year, PSA reported that registrations for the first step of the PhilSys have reached 8.4 million. The PSA adopted the house-to-house collection of demographic information for the Step 1 registration as a safety measure against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Information obtained from the holder includes age, gender, date and place of birth, address, mobile number, email address, marital status, blood type, and residency status in the country. (Argyll Cyrus B. Geducos)