President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. reiterated his directive to speed up the digitalization of the National Identification system, Malacañang said on Friday.

The President asked officials of the Philippine Statistics Authority to get the help of the private sector, which he believes has the technology and capability to issue digital IDs.

“Naiwanan na tayo sa technology, so we have to catch up,” Marcos said during his meeting with the PSA officials on Thursday.

The PSA proposed to launch the “Digital PhilID App” through a public-private partnership in the first quarter of this year.

Adopting a digital ID system, the PSA said, would provide benefits such as automated eKYC (Know Your Customer), identity theft protection, credit card and loan applications, and digital wallet.

It added that the digital ID integration to a digital wallet will result in faster distribution of government financial assistance and prevent fraud and scams.