Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. said Tuesday the government’s move to push for a national ID system is a very significant step to address issues on money laundering.
Espenilla said the regulator had great expectations for the national ID system.
“BSP anticipates that this will address many pain points on money laundering compliance,” Espenilla said during the national convention of the 55-member Chamber of Thrift Banks in Makati City.
“I hope it does not get any political derailment… The Philippines is the only country in Asean that does not have a national ID system yet,” Espenilla said.
He said the ID system would not mean the government was going to create a physical ID. He said “what we are going to build is an identification system, which is platform based and digitally enabled.”
He said the ID system would contain biometrics that could be verifiable digitally.
Espenilla said the Bangko Sentral would require the financial system, including banks, to recognize the information of each individual in the ID system. He expressed hope that the national ID system would be enacted into a law soon.
The House of Representatives earlier approved its own version of the bill last year. The Senate, voting 17-2, approved on third and final reading the bill last month.
The Senate measure aims to institute a single official identification card for all Filipinos and foreign residents in the country, making it easier for people to transact business with government and private institutions.
Senator Panfilo Lacson said the national ID system would help deter criminality. Under the measure, every Filipino and foreign resident in the country would have an identification based on a PhilSys number, or PSN, a randomly generated, unique and permanent ID number.
The country already has a unified multipurpose ID issued to members of the Social Security System, Government Service Insurance System, Philippine Health Insurance Corp. and the Home Development Mutual Fund.
