President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. ordered a private sector to help fasten the roll out of the digital version of the Philippine Identification (PhilID) or the national ID.

In a press release on Friday, Presidential Communication Office (PCCO) Secretary Cheloy Garafil said Marcos gave the order during his meeting with the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) on Digital Infrastructure.

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) sought a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) with PSAC for the launching of the digital PhilID Application.

“Naiwanan na tayo sa technology, so we have to catch up,” Marcos said as quoted by Garafil.

The PSA earlier said the digital national ID can be used for private and public transactions while waiting for the physical version.

According to the PCCO Secretary, the agency aims to kickstart the proposed Digital PhilD app in the first quarter of the year.