DILG wants to lead Nat’l ID rollout

THE Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Thursday said it is seeking to take over the rollout of the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys), or National ID cards, noting current backlogs.

In a Senate budget hearing, DILG Secretary Juanito Victor “Jonvic” C. Remulla, Jr. said that he is seeking congressional support for the agency to implement the National ID program.

“If I can suggest, if the committee can capacitate DILG to implement the National ID program. We have the sufficient amount of human resources to implement such a program up to the barangay level,” he told senators.

“If you give us the money, we’ll do it in a year,” he added.

Mr. Remulla noted that the current implementation of the ID program by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) is only limited.

“The problem with the current system that we put is that it is the PSA who is limited in its capacity to reach out to the furthest barangays,” he said.

The agency currently handles the implementation of the PhilSys ID program. In January, the agency said that it had a backlog of 36 million National ID cards.

“It’s nothing impossible that we can’t do,” he said. “So, it’s something that if you allow us to do it, then we will pursue it with vigor so that we can have a safer system for our country.” — Adrian H. Halili