National ID to urge Pinoys to save money — Barbers

SOURCE: MANILA BULLETIN

A helpful tool for Filipinos’ financial literacy is how Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers described the national identification (ID) card, the issuance of which became a matter of law under the just-signed Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) Act.

Rep. Robert Ace Barbers

Barbers, one of the principal sponsors of the PhilSys Act, says the new law shows President Rodrigo Duterte is determined to pluck Filipinos out of poverty.

“The universal ID system is a progressive economic tool that will ensure every Filipino will have access to financial services and development opportunities. Majority of Filipinos are denied of financial services because they do not have identification cards,” Barbers said as he thanked the Chief Executive.

Barbers, chairman of the House dangerous drugs committee, was among the legislators invited to Malacañang on Monday to witness the ceremonial signing of the long-sought measure.

A Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) study shows that fewer Filipinos are saving money through formal financial institutions such as banks and cooperatives.

Barbers said this could be attributed to their lack of proper identification documents.

“For instance, when opening a bank account, most banks require two forms of identification. Filipinos want to keep money in banks, but how could they if majority don’t have proper IDs? Saving money in a bank helps us develop the habit of saving and leads to a better relationship with financial institutions. This in turn could lead to potential investments and could ultimately lead to financial freedom,” he explained.

Other advantages

The Mindanao solon underscored the Philippine ID system could combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

“Tougher banking regulations, coupled with a universal ID system, could be used as an additional safeguard to prevent money laundering and financing of terrorism as the ID system would prevent money launderers and terrorists from creating fictitious bank accounts,” Barbers said.

He also contended that the Philippine ID will be an effective tool against organized crime groups such as drug syndicates, kidnap-for-ransom gangs and bank robbery syndicates.

“The national ID system could also help our anti-crime and anti-drug campaign as crime suspects will be easier to identify. With the PhilSys, it will be a lot harder to escape the long arm of the law,” Barbers said.