National ID system
Gone are the days of broken systems and scattered paperwork—welcome to a future where structure meets simplicity for all Filipinos!
In this visionary landscape, a single national identification system is the cornerstone of a new era of efficiency and convenience. Say goodbye to holding tons of cards; everything you need is in one card and app. Digital identity is now accessible at your fingertips, with all your essential documents neatly stored in one government-supported app. From passports to driver's licenses, graduation certificates to health records, everything you need is right there, just a tap away.
But the benefits don't stop there—your national ID opens doors to a world of public services, from seamless public transport access to a national health record system. With the help of comprehensive medical history, doctors and nurses are empowered to provide the best care possible, if you need it.
With this unified system, everyday life for Filipinos is now more streamlined and stress-free.
Every Filipino can access all the important documents they need (e.g. national ID, driver's license, passport, graduation diploma) through a digital wallet app. Each document is issued as an NFT on the blockchain, preventing identity fraud and loss.
Dr. Reyes sits at his desk, preparing for his next patient. With a few taps on his holographic interface, he accesses Luigi's national electronic health record, a comprehensive repository of his medical history. As Luigi enters the consultation room, Dr. Reyes greets him warmly, armed with insights from years of data: past illnesses, current medications, even genetic predispositions. With this wealth of information at his fingertips, Dr. Reyes delivers personalized care, ensuring Luigi's health journey is guided by precision and compassion.
You can easily pay for your fare in modernized jeepneys. Simply connect your card to your smartwatch, then tap the attached payment processor. Then, you're good to go!
Filipinos can have all their debit cards, credit cards, and e-wallets linked to their national ID.
Selected Quotes
...[C]entralizing payment, such as something like a Beep card, and put it in every Public Utility Vehicle, even if it's just a tricycle; we could integrate [the] Beep card so that it wouldn't be hassle [to pay]. That Beep card can be replaced with credit card too, like in Singapore, you can replace the Beep card just by tapping the credit card. And then since you can use a credit card, you can use your Apple Watch, like using wearable technologies for payments, because you're able to link credit cards. So the Philippines is super behind there...we aren't able to use wearable tech to do any financial transaction; even buying rubber shoes or fruits would be super convenient if you could just do that.
...[W]e can go [anywhere and everywehre] with the train, with the MRT, with the bus...There are rental bikes and rental e-scooters around...[basically,] everything is [now] accessible in the Philippines...[For example,] you can get from...Batanes to [General Santos City] in a reasonable amount of time...[Here], you will be able to get from place to place, and you wouldn't have to worry about whether or not you will be able to move there. Do you have a lot of bags? That'll be considered, because there is already a luggage area or...way to manage the luggage for you. And everything is connected in one system...not B Plus, Triple O, or whatever [other companies] these people think of just because they don't want to talk to each other...And [this sytem] is secure as well...maybe it could be connected to our national ID, because technically we have that PhilSys Number (PSN) thing. So yeah, the integration of the government with...technology that they will actually...fix.
...[H]onestly, it'd be great if everything under the most important sectors were a bit more interconnected...I mean, especially after living in Singapore for a while, you start to realize what you've been missing out as a Filipino when it comes to their systems and stuff like that...So, for example, [things] like finance [and] transportation, they definitely go like hand in hand. As well as things like entertainment and shopping, and then health and wellness and education come together. So...for all of these, the number one [thing] is interconnectedness: how easy is it for all of these to be accessible for each person.
For transport and health, I really want to see a proper information system...like an app. In other countries, they have apps. It has your national identity, but it's like this one system that makes a lot of things really accessible to you. In Singapore kasi, they have this thing where like the government really wants the citizens to be fit, kasi it's primarily because Singapore is a state that's just one city, right? So they need their human labor to be okay. That's kind of like a blunt way of putting it. But also, it's kind of nice that the government cares for their citizens to be fit. During the pandemic, I learned this from a family friend who lives there: when we visited, they told me what it was like. Apparently the Singaporean government gave citizens a Fitbit and for example, you reach 10,000 steps in a day. That gives you credit, and you can convert it to shopping or transportation discounts, things like that. I just found it interesting na they were able to track that as well. I think in a perfect world, like in new health and wellness, it would be taking into consideration people’s mobility.
...I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing that I want [a] cashless economy. I guess a pro of that is [that] it's cleaner, [and] there is more [traces] of [transactions]: you can't bribe, you can't be corrupt, or you can't launder money as much. So you know, on that side it's good. But at the same time, my main question is: by 2040, [would] everyone [here be] at least literate in tech? Can we actually do a cashless economy? Things like that. But in terms of finance, like, yeah, that would be cool. Like, there doesn't even have to be phones; it could be like even a card economy. In other countries, it's card-first, and that's just a piece of plastic that I'm pretty sure we can distribute to everyone. So yeah, I guess that would be cool. Like everyone has a card...or like everyone has, [I mean] we already have our national IDs. So what if finance is tied to our national ID?
...[I]f we could finally have a more solid financial system that ties in well to everyday living, that would be...fantastic. Like for example, here [in Singapore] right, you can use the same card you use for the MRT for like literally debit card [transcations]. You can use like GCash on like certain stores...around the country...Just one good financial platform for like all the people.
All of the barangays will have their own health center...[these would be] connected to...[a centralized] system...in that sense, there will be a way to track everyone's health, but only in so far with what they're comfortable with...[I can imagine] personalized health recommendations...for [both] those who are healthy, [and] for those who are not healthy or needing medical attention, they do get attended to. And we [would also] have the capacity...as a country to provide for those that need it...
...[T]here's no one source of identity in the Philippines. It's really frustrating that there's no one card, or one digital identity...and it's because of stupid laws, really poor governing, the fact that they don't want to put money into that...you probably know this, right?...it's really bad. Like it would be good [for the Philippines], because if you look at like Singapore...as a good example, like they use that digital identity and it's so smooth, like even during COVID...if you get a vaccine, it would be attached to your digital identity. Yes, that may be a little bit creepy, but like...you [already] do your taxes through your digital identity, [and you] do a lot of things your healthcare, right? And just imagine if [doing all that] was seamless, especially in the Philippines...it'd be game changing.
It would be really interesting to see [what the] Philippines [would be like if it had] actually implemented a social score with digital identity because as you know, right, [the] Philippines is...super Catholic or Christian. And I'm sure that might wager in my assumption in the future, that might impact someone's status of the church, especially if it's a priest or whatnot, or if it's...a wealthy person that goes to church, and they find out that they have like a really bad social score because they've like committed crimes...Or maybe the priest is like doing terrible things and now that impacts the community, because they find out that the priest is a bad person. So that would be really interesting to see. I think that's like a way where technology could actually impact not just [the] Church, but also politics as well. I mean, you can't just keep erasing people's history...just assuming that it doesn't exist, like you saw in the last election...Again, there's pros and cons, right? Like, yes, it'd be great to have, [to] make sure like the digital identity is recorded somewhere, and that history isn't erased, but it's also a bad thing...someone may get access to it, [someone] may hack into it and then unveil that this person is actually corrupt...And then all of a sudden, the culture and the community comes down on this person because that information is leaked. So I think then it becomes very tribal. There's a lot of tribalism that occurs, right, if that information gets out...[So] I think digital identity would impact [politics] for sure. Like I said before...if people have your identity and your history, they can use that politically against you. And [this will affect the most]...obviously people [with] political status, right? The community will make judgments based on your digital identity and your history...
