The Philippine government has a goal of registering 1/3 of the country’s population to the national ID system in 5 years, according to an official.
Photo Credit: Presidential Communications Operations Office
To properly utilize the delivery of government services, President Rodrigo Duterte signed a law on August 2018 for the creation of a single official identification card of citizens of the country and foreign residents.
Beginning August, a pilot test will be conducted to gather people’s personal information and biometrics that include eye scans and fingerprints of 1 million people, according to Eliseo Rio, the Information and Communications Undersecretary.
Eliseo told radio DZMM that the ID’s registration kits will be given out to regional offices of the Philippine Statistics Office, the civil registry Commission on Elections, and the Philippine Post.
“Twenty-five to 30 million [people] iyung next sa timeline… in 5 years ang napag-usapan. Importante na maumpisahan kaagad para ‘yung succeeding timeline, maka-adjust tayo kung may mga problema o mapabilis pa po,” he said.
(Rough translation: Twenty-five to 30 million people is the next target in the timeline, 5 years is what we agreed upon. It is important to start immediately so that the next timeline can be adjusted in case of problems or could be fast-tracked.)
The national ID shall contain a person’s Philippine Identification System number, full name, gender, blood type, date of birth, place of birth, marital status, address, and a front-facing photo, under the law.
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