Bulky wallets due to IDs

Uriel Quilinguing . 

BEFORE June 27, 2019, I should renew the identification card which, for the past two years now, has been most useful to me.

Like any ID, my name and face are on the front side and underneath it is a number series of 10-4305-003-3656 which, for me, doesn’t mean anything. I don’t know what these numbers stand for. But I must admit this card serves me well when I eat in restaurants, buy medicines and groceries not only in Cagayan de Oro but also anywhere in the country.   

At the back, my personal details are indicated and two signatures over their names, that of Persons with Disability Affairs Office head Melagros B. Maquiling and that of Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Oscar S. Moreno. 

What is written under their names is the most important in this ID. It states that “The holder of this card is a person with disability and is entitled to discounts on medical and dental services, purchase of medicines, basic commodities, transportation admission fees in all establishments and educational assistance as authorized by RA 9442 and its implementing rules and regulations. Any violation thereof is punishable by law.”

My PWD ID is just one of the many ID cards I have in my wallet, all of them may no longer be useful once I have acquired my Philippine Statistical Number (PSN) under the National ID System which will take effect starting September this year.

All Filipino citizens shall be assigned one ID number, as provided for by Republic Act No. 11055 which President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed into law on August 6, 2018.

The Philippine Statistics Authority, with the Philippine Identification System (Philsys) Policy and Coordinating Council, intends to start distributing five million Philsys IDs in November this year to the beneficiaries of the government’s Unconditional Cash Transfer Program, more popularly known as 4Ps.

So I don’t expect my Philsys ID this year, perhaps between the period 2020 to 2023 since PSA announced in a press statement earlier it will distributing 25 million IDs every year.

Considering the country’s population, as of last year, of 107.19 million which is also expected to go up by the millions in the next five years, I wonder if PSA can cope with the increase. PSA estimates state that every day there are 4,965 babies born.

Every hour,  206 more babies are born which eventually will be issued PS Number. Also, every hour there are several Filipinos who die, perhaps even before they received their Philsys ID. So we expect, so many IDs that would be rendered useless since the would be recipients no longer exists.

Is it not that the fastest the Commission on Elections can issue voter’s ID was over a year at first, then the rest have to wait for years only to be issued certifications so they cast their votes?

Is it not that many drivers use official receipts for several months since the Land Transportation Office is incapable of speedy issuance of driver’s license? Worse in the issuance of plate numbers.

And since Philsys Policy and Coordinating Council is composed of representatives of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Government Service Insurance System, Social Services System and Philippine Health Insurance, among others, then there is no more reason why Passports issuance can take long.  Wallets will no longer be bulky just because of IDs from GSIS, SSS, Philhealth, voter’s ID and driver’s license.

Because of this, approval of the Philsys ID is high at 73 percent, according to a Social Weather Survey conducted before the measure was enacted into law.

But those who are in favor may be unmindful of the risks once vital personal data and information are extracted from them for the purpose of this national ID. People’s right to privacy, confidentiality and basic human rights must, at all times, be upheld and protected.

Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA No. 11055, An Act Establishing the Philippine Identification System, provides for authentification and safety measures which we hope will not be an assurance in paper.

Sometime in December last year, there was a group claiming to be from PSA asking for advance payments from residents somewhere in Agusan del Norte for the issuance of Philsys IDs. I hope this is not true but a reliable friend relayed this information to me.

Should I renew by PWD ID for the next two years?

(Uriel C. Quilinguing is a past president of the Cagayan de Oro Press Club and former editor-in-chief of this paper.)