KINALAMPAG ni Senador Panfilo Lacson ang National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) para madaliin ang implementasyon ng National ID system.

Giit ni Lacson, dalawang taon na ang nakalilipas nang maipasa ang National ID system subalit hanggang sa kasalukuyan ay hindi pa ito naipatutupad sa hindi malamang kadahilanan.
“I hope the National Economic and Development Authority can fast-track theimplementation of the National ID system, as directed by the President,” sabi ng senador.

Dagdag pa ni Lacson na kailangan ng NEDA ang tulong ng Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) bilang frontline agency at ang Department of Information and Communications Technology na may malaking ginagampanan sa implementasyon ng National ID system.

“The first question is, is the system ready to accept registrants? If so, they should give priority to the marginalized sector, and those targeted for financial assistance because of the COVID-19 crisis,” aniya.

Samantala, mas dapat na paglaanan ng pamahalaan ng malaking pondo ang research and development sa halip na maghanap ng sinomang makakatuklas ng vaccine laban sa COVID-19.

“While the President has made a P10-million offer to whoever can develop a vaccine for COVID-19, it would mean much more if the government invested more on research and development than the token annual average share of 0.4% from the General Appropriations Act,” dagdag pa ni Lacson.

“We only need to look at how much the most prosperous countries spend on R&D to see why we are among the laggards. Even if we bump up the percentage to 1 or 2 percent of the national budget, it would make a major difference,” dagdag pa nito.NOEL ABUEL