PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte is set to sign the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) Act into law on Monday, August 6.

The Senate ratified the measure on May 29, a week after the bicameral conference committee reconciled provisions of the bill that divided the chamber and the House of Representatives.

The signing ceremony will be held at Malacañang.

Once signed, the Philippine government will be able to start issuing national ID cards containing the basic details such as name, sex, birth date, birthplace, and address.

The cards will contain the biometric information on the holders.

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The bill will authorize the collection of photographs taken from the front, full set of fingerprints and iris scans as determined by the Implementing Rules and Regulations.

COMFORTING VISIT President Rodrigo Duterte consoles Mud Monda, whose parents Muid and Hadji Monda died in the car bomb explosion in Lamitan, Basilan onJuly 31, 2018. The Mondas, members of the Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit, were among the 10 blast fatalities. The President, accompanied by his special assistant Christopher “Bong” Go, promised Mud educational assistance and a monthly allowance. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. earlier said the bill “is part of the legislative priority agenda of the Duterte administration to improve the delivery of government services.”

In March, Roque voiced confidence that the measure will be signed into law.

“I believe [it will be signed because] there was an overwhelming consensus on the need for the national ID system,” he said in a news briefing.

Some groups, however, raised warnings that the bill, if signed into law, will pose threats to the security and privacy of the ID holders.

The national ID system was first introduced during the time of then-President Fidel Ramos through Executive Order (EO) 308.

It, however, did not push through after the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional, citing the need for legislation.

Another attempt was made during the term of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo through EO 420, synchronizing all government-issued ID cards, calling it the Unified Multi-Purpose Identification System (UMID).

The UMID is still being issued by select government agencies but does not serve as a national ID card.

The signing of the PhilSys Act will coincide with the presentation of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL).

Duterte signed the measure on July 26.

The original plan was for the President to sign the BOL on July 23, when he delivered his third State of the Nation Address but a House leadership ruckus stalled the idea.

The law will turn the Administrative Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) into the Bangsamoro Region.

The BOL will give the Bangsamoro Region fiscal autonomy and governed by the Bangsamoro Parliament elected by the Bangsamoro Region’s inhabitants.

It mandates the inclusion of the six Lanao del Norte municipalities and 39 barangay (villages) of North Cotabato in the Bangsamoro Region but it will only materialize if their respective mother provinces approve of it in a plebiscite.

The BOL grants the Bangsamoro Parliament the authority to create Shariah Courts (Shariah Circuit Court, Shariah District Court and Shariah High Court) that will have jurisdictions on personal, family, property and minor criminal offenses known as Ta’zir.

Minor criminal offenses are those punishable by fines and a jail time of one to 30 days.