Nat’l ID system law to take effect Aug. 25 —PSA

The law that will put in place a national identification system is set to take effect on August 25, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Saturday.

The Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) Act was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on August 6 and was published in newspapers on August 9.

The law will take effect 15 days after publication in general circulation, "so August 25 pa magte-take effect," PSA chief and National Statistician Lisa Grace Bersales said in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB.

The law seeks to harmonize, integrate, and interconnect the countless and redundant government IDs by establishing a single national identification system to be known as the Philippine Identification System.

The Phil-ID will contain information such as the PhilSys number, full name, facial image, sex, date of birth, blood type, and address.

The implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for the law is targeted to be completed in September.

"Kapag na-publish na [ang IRR] puwede na kaming mag-procure at i-implement ang national ID," Bersales said.

She said the PSA targets to initially distribute one million national IDs.

An initial funding of P2 billion has been earmarked for the implementation of the national ID system under the 2018 national budget. — Ted Cordero/MDM, GMA News