THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said it will produce 116 million blank cards for the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys), or the National ID, in the next three years.

The BSP said this is included in the memorandum of agreement (MOA) it forged with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Monday.

The BSP said the “Phil IDs” are nontransferable cards to be issued to all Philippine citizens or resident aliens registered under the PhilSys.

“The BSP is honored to sign the memorandum of agreement with PSA that starts the implementation of the Philippine Identification System Act. As you know, this is 30 years in the making,” BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said in his speech.

“The law is universally beneficial for Filipinos as it provides a means of simplifying public and private transactions through a reliable and nationally accepted proof of identity. Having this proof of identity has far-reaching benefits, especially in promoting financial inclusion,” Diokno added.

He said the BSP will also provide needed equipment and space for the embedding of personal information onto the blank cards.

Under the MOA, the PSA will manage the PhilSys database and ensure the “availability, confidentiality, integrity, accuracy, and readiness” of the data to be placed in the Phil IDs.

The PSA is also tasked to undertake the personalization, quality checking and distribution of the Phil IDs.

Republic Act 11055, or the Philippine Identification System Act, mandates the establishment of the Philippine Identification System for all citizens and resident aliens of the country. The PSA is the primary implementing agency to carry out the provisions of the law.

“With this Philippine ID, the BSP widens its area of cooperation with the PSA. While our number-crunching agencies have a long history of interaction on statistics, the production of national IDs is a trailblazing field for both institutions,” Diokno said.

The PhilSys provides for a national identification system that seeks to unify all government IDs into one. It will provide identification to both citizens and resident aliens of the country to facilitate public and private transactions.

The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) earlier said that despite the numerous IDs issued by the Philippine government, 14 percent of Filipinos are still denied government and financial services due to the lack of proper identification documents.

The PhilSys Act was signed into law on August 6, 2018. It is part of the Legislative Agenda under Chapter 5 of the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022, titled, “Ensuring People-Centered, Clean, and Efficient Governance.”