The Bangko Sentral denies that it subcontracted the production of the delayed national IDs, saying that it handled operations while AllCard ‘provided equipment, raw materials, and technical support’
MANILA, Philippines – After the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) terminated its contract with the supplier of national IDs over delays and failures, Senate finance committee chairperson Grace Poe is now asking why the central bank allegedly subcontracted the printing of national ID cards in the first place.
“This is actually a grave concern because if they blatantly violated the memorandum of agreement, that’s something that can cancel out the entire agreement,” Poe said during the budget hearing of the National Economic and Development Authority on Wednesday, September 11. “BSP might be liable for something here.”
Under the existing setup, the Philippine Statistics Authority collects Filipinos’ data and manages the database used to produce the national ID. Meanwhile, the BSP is in charge of actually producing the physical cards, based on a memorandum of agreement that it entered into with the PSA in late 2019.
PSA head Dennis Mapa told the Senate that they expected the central bank itself would be the one to print the cards, which was why they were “surprised” to learn that the BSP had tapped AllCard as a supplier.
“Ang memorandum of agreement between the PSA is with the BSP. So when we entered into a MOA, our expectation is it’s BSP. As mentioned, we were surprised na AllCard ang kumuha. Nalaman namin noong nagkakaroon na ng operation,” Mapa said on Wednesday.
(The memorandum of agreement between the PSA is with the BSP. So when we entered into a MOA, our expectation is it’s the BSP. As mentioned, we were surprised when AllCard was the one that got it. We just learned about it when the operation started.)
AllCard is now in hot water after the BSP cut its contract over failures in delivering raw materials and maintaining leased printing machines, among others. While the BSP and AllCard have yet to settle their legal dispute, tens of millions of Filipinos are left waiting for a physical national ID to be delivered to them.
In the aftermath of the cancellation, there’s now growing scrutiny over who should be held accountable, with Poe questioning the BSP’s decision to allegedly subcontract the operation to AllCard.
Subcontracting is not allowed under a bank resolution attached to the memorandum of agreement between the BSP and the PSA, according to Leo Camacho, a state auditor from the Commission on Audit (COA).
“Noong nalaman nga namin na si AllCard ‘yung nakuha niya, we raised this issue with the PSA (When we learned that AllCard was tapped, we raised this issue with the PSA),” Camacho said. Later in the hearing, the auditor also confirmed that “it was a violation of the MOA.”
As early as March 2023, the PSA had already written to the central bank, seeking to terminate their MOA once the PSA receives 55 million cards. At the time, they only held 35 million cards.
“The objective of the PSA is really to make sure that the cards are being produced and delivered. During the time, the spike in the registration number was there, and people were complaining why they don’t have the cards yet,” Mapa said.
Mapa explained that terminating the contract at the 55 million cards level would give them around six months to prepare for another service to continue production. Mapa also confirmed that the PSA is already talking to new providers, who may possibly use a revamped design that features the person’s signature on the physical card.
However, Poe is still pushing for a deeper investigation into the issue and believes that the BSP may be held liable should it be found in violation of any agreements.
“I think we have to investigate further kung ano ba ‘tong AllCard na ‘to (about this AllCard). I think the reason why this is terminated now is maybe the board of the BSP realized na teka muna, baka (wait, maybe) they are in violation of something because the memorandum of agreement is pretty clear na hindi nila puwede i-subcontract ‘yan (that they can’t subcontract that),” the senator said.
BSP: No subcontracting happened
Meanwhile, the BSP denies that it subcontracted the production of physical national IDs to AllCard.
“The BSP fully complied with the Agency-to-Agency Procurement Guidelines (Negotiated Procurement under Section 53.5 of the implementing rules of Republic Act No. 9184) and its agreement with the PSA regarding the printing of national IDs,” the central bank said in a statement sent two days before the Senate hearing.
“The BSP did not subcontract the activity to AllCard Incorporated (ACI). BSP personnel conducted the operation, while ACI provided equipment, raw materials, and technical support. The COA, which reviewed the transactions of BSP, did not include any findings related to subcontracting in its BSP Annual Review report,” the central bank added.
Earlier, the BSP had confirmed to Rappler that it terminated the contract with AllCard for the “Supply, Delivery, Installation, and Commissioning of Lot 1 Lease of Card Production Equipment for National ID Cards.” Asked by Rappler whether this contract covers just the provision of printing equipment, the central bank declined to comment.
The PSA has already paid around P1.4 billion to the BSP for the cards, based on a delivery rate of P33 per card.
Out of the 86 million Filipinos who applied for a national ID, only 53.5 million have received a physical card. The PSA has also delivered 46 million paper-based ePhilIDs and 18 million digital versions of the national ID. – with reports from Christelle Velasquez/Rappler.com
Christelle Velasquez is a Rappler intern, taking up AB Journalism at the University of Santo Tomas.
