The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Malaysia’s My Blockchain Infrastructure Sdn. Bhd. (MBI) and Zetrix Philippines to explore cross-border verification of government-issued digital credentials between the Philippines and Malaysia.
The agreement does not yet establish an operational cross-border digital ID system, but sets a framework for technical collaboration, knowledge sharing, and possible pilot use cases involving digital identity, e-government services, and trade facilitation.
A key area under study is interoperability between the national digital identity systems of the two countries, which DICT said could eventually reduce repeated identity checks for Filipinos accessing services in Malaysia and Malaysians doing the same in the Philippines.
Possible use cases cited by the agency include employment processing, banking, travel-related transactions, business registration, and access to government services.
The ceremonial signing was led by DICT secretary Henry Aguda, MBI chairman Datuk Mohd Jimmy Wong Abdullah, and Zetrix Philippines chairman Ronald Allan Aquino.
“This collaboration allows us to make verification of government-issued credentials more secure and efficient across systems. More importantly, it helps remove unnecessary friction so citizens can access services faster and with greater confidence wherever they are,” Aguda said.
DICT said any future implementation would be subject to privacy, cybersecurity, and national security safeguards.
The agency cast the agreement as part of broader efforts to improve digital public services as more Filipinos travel, work, study, and do business overseas.
