House leader: Delayed national ID printing unacceptable

The delayed printing of the national ID, which has since prompted authorities to ask citizens to print the digital copies of their IDs themselves, is unacceptable, House Deputy Minority Leader Bernadette Herrera of Bagong Henerasyon party-list said Wednesday.

Herrera was referring to the national ID provided for under the Philippine Identification System law which establishes a single national identification system for all citizens and resident aliens of the Philippines to aid in social service delivery.

"I wasn't satisfied with the reasons for the delay told to me during the budget hearing. They (Philippine Statistics Authority or PSA) said they lacked printers. But this is billions worth of a government project. What kind of a supplier is this?" Herrera said in a Super Radyo DZBB interview.

"Napakalaki ng kontrata mo sa gobyerno. Huwag mo naman kami tipirin. Making us print it on a piece of paper is not good," she added.

(This is a huge government contract. We should not be shortchanged.)

Likewise, Herrera said that the PSA cannot use the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse for the delay.

"What has COVID-19 got to do with the printing? You only need a room for that," Herrera said.

"Why are they taking their sweet time on this? And when I asked what are the liabilities in connection with this delay, I was told the legal department is still studying it. That is why I want to see the contract because I want to see an exit door for this. In fact, maybe it is the supplier who should be paying the government right now," she added.

Herrera already filed House Resolution 471 seeking a probe into the printing and distribution of the national ID.

GMA News Online has contacted PSA for comment but has yet to receive a reply as of posting time.

Based on Commission on Audit (COA) records, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) was able only to deliver 27,356,750 pre-personalized cards or 76% of the 36 million required number of IDs for 2021.

Prior to this period, the BSP only managed to deliver 8,764,556 personalized cards which is just 17.53% of the 50 million required number of IDs for calendar years 2020 and 2021.

COA also reported national ID contractor Allcard, Inc. has only delivered 27.3 million ID cards as of December last year which is below the 36 million annual delivery requirement.

The government is eyeing to distribute 92 million national ID cards by June 2023.

Former President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Philippine Identification System law back in August 2018. —with a report from Jon Viktor Cabuenas/KG, GMA News