MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – It took the fire that gutted the main Manila Post Office Building for the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) to finally come up with a brilliant idea.

PSA has been widely criticized for the long delay in the delivery of National IDs. Many have been waiting for more than two years now.

The Manila Post Office fire which destroyed National IDs about to be delivered to Manila residents may have been an isolated incident, but PSA is not taking any chances.

Today, the PSA announced that it will replace all National IDs (both pending and already delivered) with fire-proof plexiglass cards.

At the same time, the agency appealed for patience from the Filipinos since the new, improved IDs may take up to 5 years to produce and be delivered.

Well, as they say, patience is a virtue!

(Graphic by Orman O. Manansala for The Adobo Chronicles.)