Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said this Friday that the government is studying how the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) or national ID can be used to distribute cash transfers and subsidy programs.
During the House of Representatives deliberation on the proposed P5.268-trillion national budget for 2023, Diokno said that while the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) should continue its social protection programs, it should stop providing ” aid” related to the experienced crisis in the country.
“I think that should already be discontinued because we have actually fully recovered and because of the limited fiscal space,” said the secretary.
It is said that the problem of “huge leakage” in the cash transfer programs Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and unconditional cash transfers (UCT) should also be addressed.
“The most efficient way to do this is by requiring all the citizens to have a national ID,” suggested Diokno.
“We are thinking along the lines of maybe limiting the beneficiaries to those who have national ID,” he added.
This will also be a way to encourage people to get a national ID.
Gov’t plans to use national IDs for cash aid distribution – Diokno
First, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said that it is expediting the production of (PhilSys) cards or National ID cards to comply with President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s directive to provide 50 million IDs after 2022.
In his first State of the Nation Address, Marcos ordered the distribution of 30 million physical cards and 20 million digital PhilSys IDs to reach the target of 92 million by mid-2023.
According to Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, the government will provide P206.50 billion in “aid” that includes cash transfers and other subsidy programs of various government agencies next year.
The 4Ps of the DSWD is the largest, with an allocation of P115.61 billion for education and health grants and rice subsidy to 4.4 million households.
“This is 7.3 percent higher compared to this year’s P107.67 billion, which will be used to support the improvement of data validation for the Listahanan 3 and thus ensure a better beneficiary targeting system,” according to the secretary.
Visit our Facebook page for more news updates.