Philippines opens $7.8M tender for national digital ID verification infrastructure

The Philippines' Department of Information and Communications Technology has launched a 496.3 million peso (about US$7.8 million) tender for cloud, cryptographic security and facial biometric liveness services supporting its national ID verification program. The Philippines also plans to make biometric authentication mandatory for opening bank accounts. Tying a national biometric identity to banking onboarding shows how identity infrastructure is becoming a gateway to financial participation, a pattern relevant to the Bible's picture of buying and selling being controlled (Revelation 13:16-17), though this is a contextual signpost, not a fulfilment.