President Rodrigo Duterte institutionalized the acceptance of the Philippine Identification or Phil ID System number as sufficient proof of identity and age in all government and private transactions.

Duterte signed Executive Order No. 162 which set the mechanics of the Phil ID System number on February 14.

According to the executive order, the acceptance of Philippine ID should be institutionalized "to improve efficiency in the delivery of social services, strengthen financial inclusion and promote ease of doing business.

"PhilSys shall be the government's central identification platform for all citizens and resident aliens of the country. In line with the policy under RA No. 11055 an individual's record in the PhilSys shall be considered as sufficient proof of identity and age in all public and private transactions," the EO stated.

"The Phil ID shall serve as the official government - issued identification document and official proof of identity of cardholders in dealing with all national government agencies, instrumentalities, departments, bureaus, offices, LGUs, GOCCs, GFIs, state universities, and colleges and other chartered institutions and private entities," it added.

The EO also states that "banks and other financial institutions shall comply with the relevant issuances of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and other government regulatory agencies and communicate to the public such policies and guidelines on the use of the PhilID, PSN or PSN Derivative."

In her previous interview with government television, Assistant Secretary Rose Bautista of Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said as of September 10, 2021 the Philpost has distributed a total of 1.7 million PhilSys ID cards nationwide. Robina Asido/DMS