The implementation of the national ID system, also called PhilSys, was tackled during President Rodrigo Duterte’s meeting with the Cabinet on Monday. The government plans to register around 107 million Filipinos in the national ID system by 2022, when Duterte's term of office ends. The president signed the National ID Law in August 2018, saying a single and streamlined national identification system would reduce corruption, enhance governance and serve as a tool to keep the public safe. Opposition to the proposal for a national ID system, chiefly from the Makabayan bloc at the House of Representatives, had raised concerns that the system could lead to state surveillance on its citizens. The law also penalizes unlawful use of the ID as well as faking the information in the national ID.

Source: Philippine Star June 11, 2019 05:51 UTC