THE Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said its backlog of 36 million Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) or National ID cards will require a resort to decentralized printing, for which additional funds will be needed.
“We are working on decentralized printing. We will try to wipe out that backlog if given additional funds because the approved funding cannot support the full printing of the 36 million cards,” Deputy National Statistician Rosalinda P. Bautista told reporters on Thursday.
She said there is no new supplier yet for the cards after the contract with AllCard, Inc. was terminated in August.
The PSA reported that as of Dec. 20, it has signed up 91.7 million persons for the National ID, missing the signup target of 92.16 million.
Meanwhile, 55.5 million physical cards have been dispatched.
She also blamed the typhoons that prevented some regions from carrying out on-site registration.
According to the 2025 General Appropriations Act, the PSA has been allotted P8.516 billion for its operations.
Some P1.92 billion was appropriated for the Philippine Identification System to carry out the mandate of Republic Act No. 11055.
“The Philippine Statistics Authority shall set a timetable for the proper implementation of the Philippine Identification System, including the printing and issuance of 115.67 million PhilSys IDs within the agency’s committed timeline of not later than Dec. 31, 2028,” according to the 2025 GAA. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante