THE government is moving forward with a proposed P2.48-billion project to upgrade and operate the digital infrastructure supporting the country’s National ID system, with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) eyeing a public-private partnership (PPP) for its implementation.
Approved earlier this month by the Investment Coordination Committee-Cabinet Committee (ICC-CC), the Philippine Digital National Identity (PDNI) Project will cover the upgrading, operation, and maintenance of key National ID systems.
These include registration and card production, identity authentication, as well as the technical integration of banks, businesses, and other private entities that use the National ID to verify customers.
The PSA said the project is expected to make National ID registration more accessible and improve the efficiency of identity authentication services.
‘This is a huge win for the PSA. Through this partnership, we can harness the expertise and resources of the private sector while ensuring that the National ID remains firmly anchored in its public purpose-to provide Filipinos with a trusted and convenient means of proof of identity to access critical services,’ National Statistician Claire Dennis S. Mapa said in a recent statement.
The ICC-CC approval allows the proposed PPP to proceed to the procurement stage, where other private companies will be invited to submit competing proposals.
As the original proponent, Unisys Public Sector Services Corp. will have the opportunity to match or improve the best competing offer under the comparative challenge process.
The P2.48-billion project will be implemented under a Build-Transfer-Operate (BTO) arrangement, with a six-month transition period followed by a 20-year concession.
Earlier, the PSA said around 97 million Filipinos had been registered for the National ID, leaving about 17 million still unregistered.
A significant portion of those yet to be registered are children aged 0 to 4 and overseas Filipinos.
‘The bulk of those who remain unregistered are overseas Filipinos. Before we always go to the Middle East, as a lot of Filipinos there are not registered. But because of the current security concern the PSA was not able to go there,’ Mapa said at the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DepDev) budget briefing on Monday.
Mapa said P26.21 billion had been provided for the National ID system from 2018 through 2026, with about P24 billion already obligated.
The average cost of registering an individual is around P250 to P260, he added.