BSP looking at India's model for PHL's nat'l ID system

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is studying how the Philippines can establish a national ID system similar to India's "Aadhaar."

"The vision for this system is to support multiple case use. Similar to what India has done in launching their 'Aadhar' system, which we are trying to study very carefully," BSP Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. said in a forum in Mandaluyong City.

"It is a foundational ID system... it's only rule is to establish, associate an individual biometrically with a unique number so that you are identifiable all throughout the system," he added.

India's "Aadhar" — a Hindu word for foundation — is now tagged as the largest ID database system in the world with one billion population targeted to be included in the system.

The central bank chief said the establishment of a national ID system in the Philippines will solve a major issue — "the lack of identity in our system."

He said that the BSP, Department of Budget and Management, Department of Finance, and the Philippine Statistics Authority are now discussing the "foundational biometric ID system" with the aim of facilitating financial inclusion among Filipinos.

"With the national ID system, disenfranchisement will be a thing of the past. The goal is for more Filipinos to be financially included with the number of unbanked shrinking faster," Espenilla said.

He said the key objective of the ID system is to facilitate the social and economic inclusion of individuals, who have been disenfranchised due to lack of an acceptable ID.

"A universal biometric-based digital ID system will change the nature of authentication in the Philippines. Imagine everyone with a smartphone can quickly identify an individual in seconds so many risks cases," Espenilla said.

As for the basic features of the national ID, he said it must contain the most basic information about an individual such as the name, date of birth, sex, contact details, and biometrics as well as a system generated unique ID number.

"No need to ask other kinds of sensitive information," he said.

Espenilla clarified that the national ID will not replace other government issue IDs with specific use cases such as the Tax Identification Number and the passport, among others.

"To drive enrolment in the system, there must be an immediate use case for digital ID and it must be used efficiently," he said.

"For the BSP this means all social programs targeted beneficiaries must be able to receive the benefits directly into their bank accounts or wallet accounts with the digital ID used as basis in registering as valid beneficiaries," he said.

The Duterte administration is looking to the distribution of a national ID to 105 million Filipinos by 2020. The national ID system aims to properly identify recipients of government subsidies. The ID is planned to contain an individual's biometrics.

The government is also planning to put an EMV-chip or magnetic stripe to the ID to enable the distribution of subsidies to targeted recipients. —KBK, GMA News