National ID to Be Released on April 2020

The start of the release of the Philippine National ID will begin in April. The National ID is a government ID that is usable in all government offices.

According to the Governor of Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Benjamin E. Diokno, the implementation of the National ID will help individuals open bank accounts with any bank.




The manufacture of the National ID or the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) program will be backed by the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas. The BSP is assisting the program to decrease the unbanked community in the Philippines which is almost 65 percent of the working-age group in 2018. The unbanked adult population in the Philippines in 2017 was 52.8 million.

Diokno first announced the plans of launching the National ID on October 17 when he was privileged to speak in front of the World Bank Group/International Monetary Fund (IMF) Annual Meeting attendees in the United States of America.

Thirty years ago, the program failed to make it into Congress. After years of fighting for the program, finally, the lawmakers had made it possible to launch the National ID which will finally be launched next year. Diokno said that the card will be issued on April 2020.




The National ID is under the Republic Act Number 11055 or the Philippine Identification System Act. It aims to provide Filipino citizens and alien a uniform and sole identification mechanism.

Under an agreement between the BSP and the Philippine Statistics Authority, the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas will be the sole producer of 116 million pieces of blank National ID cards for the next three years.

The Printing of the National ID will be the responsibility of the Philippine Statistics Authority.

The issuance of the National ID to Filipinos is free, unlike other government-issued IDs that required payment, according to Diokno.