Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson has proposed requiring the National ID, also known as PhilSys ID, as the primary means of verifying the age of Filipinos seeking to open social media accounts, arguing that other methods may create loopholes and enforcement problems.
The Philippine government and Roblox have agreed to explore stronger age verification measures, including possible integration with the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys), as authorities push online platforms to tighten safeguards for children.
GoTyme Bank has directly integrated its account-opening system with the Philippine Identification System, allowing customers to verify their identities without scanning or uploading physical identification documents.
Sen. Panfilo "Ping" M. Lacson said such an amendment may also serve as an opportunity for the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and other concerned agencies to purge the Philippine ID system of unauthorized registrants.
The fraudulent schemes typically involve phishing attempts that disguise themselves as services offering assistance with National ID registration, printing of IDs, correcting errors, or downloading the Digital National ID, among other things.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) issued the memorandum apparently due to continuing complaints that some banks refuse to recognize the national ID as proof of identity because the card itself does not display the person’s signature.
The activity, which involved PhilID and ePhilID holders processing their civil registry documents, enabled identity verification through scanning of the fingerprint through biometric authentication devices for the real-time matching process of information to the PhilSys Registry.
The PSA also assured that the PhillDs affected by the Manila Central Post Office last May 2023 were only for registered persons residing in Manila, and that other lDs for delivery were unaffected by the fire.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian made the call amid continuing complaints that some banks refuse to recognize the national ID as proof of identity because the card itself does not display the person's signature.
