MANILA – Acting NEDA Secretary Karl Chua said the Philippine Statistics Authority would start the mass registration for the national ID system of household heads in June.
“Mauuna ang household heads para may baseline na tayo and we are expecting to register five million by December 2020,” he said. (Let’s start with the household heads first so that we will have a baseline). Household head may mean either the father or the mother who is the main source of income or breadwinner of the family.
Secretary Chua made this statement during the session of the senate sitting as committee of the whole, Tuesday afternoon, to discuss about the status of the Covid-19 response of the government and the possible authorization of a supplemental budget for additional five million unserved Social Amelioration Program (SAP) beneficiaries.
He was reacting to the observation of Senator Ronald Dela Rosa that glitches in the first distribution of the SAP could have been avoided if the National ID System was in place.
In April, NEDA and the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said their agencies had started the expeditious procurement of materials and equipment necessary to kick start the mass registration by June or July.
With a reliable source of personal information, it will be easier for the government to identify the recipients of social aid in case of emergencies. “The ID owners can also open their own bank accounts to facilitate distribution unlike now that we are doing it in barangay halls or house to house,” Sec. Chua said.
NEDA has been targeting to register 80 to 90 million or at most 82 percent of Filipinos before the term of President Duterte ends in 2022.
