Palace sees passage of nat’l ID law before sine die break

Malacañang is optimistic that the proposed national ID system will be enacted before the 17th Congress ends its second regular session on June 1.

At a press briefing on Thursday, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said President Rodrigo Duterte would affix his signature to the measure once the reconciled version reaches his desk.

The Senate on Monday passed on third and final reading the bill seeking to establish the Philippine Identification System, six months after the House of Representatives approved a counterpart measure in September.

"The next procedure is for the Senate and the House to reconcile both their respective versions, after which, it will be ratified by both houses. So I would say, before they go on sine die adjournment, this will become law," Roque said.

"[I]n the last Cabinet meeting, there was an overwhelming consensus for the need for the national ID system and there’s already a budget allotted in the 2018 budget for national ID," he added.

 The proposed bill seeks to harmonize, integrate, and interconnect the countless and redundant government IDs, around 33, by establishing a single national identification system to be known as the Philippine Identification System or PhilSys.

Under the bill, PhilSys will have three key components: the PhilSys Number or PSN, the PhilID, and the PhilSys Registry.

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