*  *  *  Ladies and gentlemen, I am very pleased to welcome you to the 39th Economics Conference of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank here in Vienna.
Republic Act 11055 establishes a biometric based, foundational national identification system that aims to provide every Filipino and even foreign residents with a trusted and verifiable digital identity. Philsys, therefore, addresses the key barriers to opening a bank account, particularly the cost of on-boarding as well as the lack of acceptable identification particularly for low-income and vulnerable sectors of our society.