THE country’s effort to roll out the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) is a “great example” of how governments can address digital ecosystem gaps, according to World Bank experts.
World Bank’s Yoonyoung Cho and Jonathan Marskell stressed that having stacks of digital IDs, digital payments and data sharing platforms allowed countries to better cope with the pandemic by shifting services to online channels.
Countries like the Philippines were among those which did not have a foundational ID system beyond its civil registry. Efforts to undertake the National ID program are a step closer to strengthening digital ecosystems in the country.
“The Philippines provides a great example of a government addressing digital ecosystem gaps—strengthening the foundational ID, digital data governance, and digital payments systems,” the experts said.
“Learning from the challenges of social assistance delivery without a foundational ID during the Covid-19 response, PSA recognized digital SP delivery as a priority area and is now working with the Department of Social Welfare and Development [DSWD] to use PhilSys for the digital transformation of the country’s major social assistance programs,” they added.
Marskell said that based on the World Bank’s 2017 ID4D-Findex Survey, a fifth of the poorest Filipinos were denied government services and one seventh were denied government financial support because they lacked an ID.
He said the PhilSys is important because many Filipinos still lack what is known locally as a “primary ID,” like a passport or driving license.
As a result, when these Filipinos access a service, say, at a municipality or bank, they have to present multiple physical documents, often including a certified copy of a birth certificate, which creates barriers and costs.
“The ability for someone to prove their identity is increasingly a prerequisite for accessing services including social protection support from the government,” Marskell said.
“As more transactions move online, digital ID systems are needed to allow people to securely prove who they are remotely, without physical interaction,” he added.
Cho said the World Bank is now working with the DSWD to develop what is called a transformational digital trilogy composed of a digital ID (PhilSys), digital payments and digital data governance.
He said citizens accessing government-to-persons (G2P) payments can easily prove their identity using the national ID without a lengthy application process.
With less paperwork, Cho said people can receive their benefits through digital channels quickly and securely without a long travel and wait time.
Also, Cho said, program implementers can use the ID, interoperable information systems, and databases to verify the beneficiaries’ eligibility and enroll them for suitable support programs.
The World Bank expert said these efforts will save beneficiaries’ travel, time, and financial costs, as well as spare them from so much hassle, to access government’s services.
“Efforts to shift cash transfer to digital payments followed through the partnership with financial service providers. As a result, the access points came closer to beneficiaries, and the average travel and waiting time to cash out the benefits went down significantly by about 45 minutes,” Cho said.
Last week, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said it is confident that less stringent mobility restrictions currently in place will encourage more Filipinos to register for a National ID.
As of March 16, 2022, some 60.48 million Filipinos completed the PhilSys Step 2 Registration, which involves capturing biometric information such as fingerprints, iris, and front-facing photographs at registration centers.
PSA Undersecretary Dennis S. Mapa, National Statistician and Civil Registrar General, said more Filipinos will be able to register to PhilSys and allow PSA to meet this year’s target on time.
In February, Mapa told BusinessMirror that the PSA is targeting to register the demographic and biometric of 92 million by the end of 2022. The PSA aims to distribute National ID cards to 31.3 million Filipinos by year-end.