Philippines mulls mandatory national ID for govt aid

Beneficiaries of government subsidies in the Philippines may need to show their national ID before having access to such benefits in the future if a new plan goes ahead.

The plan was discussed during a recent meeting between the Economic Development Group (EDG) and the Inter-Agency Committee on Inflation and Market Outlook (IAC-IMO), as mentioned in a Facebook post of the Department of Finance.

According to the post, the government is “considering the use of the Philippine Identification System (Philsys) as a registration and validation system for more efficient distribution of subsidies.” This means that should the plan be eventually made official, the physical or digital version of the national ID will be needed to access government subsidies.

The use of the Philippine national ID for financial services has been gaining traction. It was recently accepted as a proof of identity by four additional banks and a digital money services provider.

Meanwhile, as part of efforts to boost financial inclusion using the national ID, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) have partnered on a pilot to explore the usefulness of the recently launched National ID eVerify platform.

As reported by Inquirer, they will use financial services provider GCash as partner to test the digital ID authentication service that was rolled out recently alongside the National ID Check.

As part of the pilot, GCash will be able to conduct digital Know Your Customer (KYC) processes and verify identities.

“When we secure our services through a centralized authentication process, we can ensure the legitimacy of all our users through the National ID. We are better positioned to foster financial inclusion for more Filipinos when we have safer financial platforms,” said Ren-Ren Reyes, president and CEO of GCash mobile wallet operator, G-Xchange, Inc

In May, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said it would seal a partnership deal with GCash and others to deliver social protection and humanitarian programs.

There are now over 88 million cumulative registrations for the Philippines national ID as of June 14, according to the PhilSys statistics dashboard. Of this number, 55 million cards have been dispatched, and 55.9 have been delivered to their owners. A total of 45.6 printed ePhilIDs have been issued, while 1.3 ePhilIDs have been downloaded.

Just like the digital ID which is part of the Philippines’ digital transformation drive, the government recently approved another major digital infrastructure project that seeks to expand broadband internet connectivity and set up a robust cybersecurity system.

The National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) board gave its nod of approval on the Philippine Digital Infrastructure Project (PDIP), according to press release from the office of the president.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital ID  |  financial services  |  government services  |  identity verification  |  national ID  |  PhilID  |  Philippines  |  social protection