President Duterte had his biometrics and personal data captured for his national identification to show support to the said project.
Photos released by Malacañang yesterday showed the President flashing his freshly minted Philippine ID Card, shortly after Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) personnel processed his registration for the National ID System program.This comes on the heels of graft complaints filed against seven Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) officials before the Office of the Ombudsman over the P1.75-billion supply and equipment contract to produce 116 million Phil ID cards.
Last week, Malacañang expressed support to BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno – one of the respondents in the complaint – would be able to answer the graft raps filed by Ricardo Fulgencio IV, a self-styled anti-corruption crusader.“We stand by the integrity of Governor Diokno and we know that anybody has the right to file charges but we are confident that Gov. Diokno will be able to clarify these issues,” said presidential spokesman Harry Roque Jr.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the enactment of the national ID law is a big boost to its efforts to increase the level of cashless transactions to 20 percent by 2020 from about one percent.
BSP Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. said the signing of Republic Act 11055 or the Philippine ID System (Philsys) Act by President Duterte last Aug. 6 could exponentially push forward the central bank’s digitalization and financial inclusion agenda in line with the launch of the National Retail Payment System (NRPS) last December 2015.“Among other benefits, this will democratize access to transaction accounts. Full participation to the digital payment ecosystem envisioned under the NRPS will be within reach. Key barriers to account opening will be removed,” he said.
Duterte signed in August 2018 Republic Act 11055, the Philippine Identification System Act, which aims to establish a single national ID for all Filipinos and resident aliens.
With additional reports: The Philippine Star, Lawrence Agcaoili
Photo Sources: Robinson Niñal, Presidential Photo,
