THE National ID rollout next year has not been allocated specific funding in the 2020 Budget and financial support will depend on any fresh revenue or loans raised by the government.
Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph G. Recto said the proposed 2020 General Appropriations Act (GAA) does not provide “programmed funds” for the Philippine Identification System ID (PhilSys ID).
“There is zero funding for the project in the programmed portion of the proposed national project. What is provided is a P2.4 billion in ‘unprogrammed appropriations’ which at best, is a tentative allocation dependent if new loans or revenue will be raised,” he said in a statement Tuesday.
The P2.4 billion will cover the registration of 6.3 million Filipinos next year, less than half of the government’s goal of 14 million for 2020.
Mr. Recto said the lack of funding will “trigger a domino effect” and set back the timetable for the National ID system. The target of 14 million is the number of Filipinos due to be registered in 2020, followed by 57 million, including 5 million overseas Filipinos in 2021, and 49 million in 2022, including 5 million more overseas Filipinos.
“To meet this deadline, 4.3 million registrants must be processed every month by the 5,000 registration kits in mobile and fixed registration centers,” Mr. Recto said.
The National ID project is authorized by Republic Act No. 11055 or the Philippine Identification System Act. The project entered pilot testing in September and will run until next month.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said that the PhilSys IDs will be issued beginning April next year. The BSP was tasked to print the cards over the next three years. — Gillian M. Cortez
