Nat’l ID cards to cost gov’t P30 each, says BSP

The government will spend P30 for every national identification card that is seen to be released to 116 million Filipinos over the next three years.

At a press conference in Pasay City, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Assistant Governor Dahlia Luna said the central bank would print the national ID cards for P3.4 billion, or P30 for each of the 116 million cards.

"Our contract with the [Philippine Statistics Authority], it's at P3.4 billion, that is for 116 million cards. Practically, that is around almost P30 per card," Luna told reporters when asked about the cost.

The ID card is set to contain the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) number of each individual, his or her full name, facial image, sex, date of birth, blood type, and address.

The BSP on Monday formalized its earlier commitment to print out the national ID, through the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the PSA.

"Under the MOA, the BSP shall produce 116 million pieces of blank cards for the Philippine ID for three years," BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said.

"We will also provide needed equipment and space for the embedding of personal information onto the blank cards, which will be done by the PSA," he added.

The PSA last month said that the registration for mass registration on the PhilSys would begin in the middle of 2020, and complete the enrollment of the population in the middle of 2022.

"We will do a rollout starting July. 2020, we are targeting about 14 to 15 million (cards printed), assuming that there's no problem by July," PSA head Claire Dennis Mapa said.

"It's now very easy to provide an escalation. By 2021, we can increase the number to about 50 million, and the rest could come by 2022," he added. —NB, GMA News