National ID may help solve criminality—Lacson

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson has renewed his call for a national identification system to help solve criminality in the country.

“It’s about time na magkaroon ng national ID (It’s about time we created a national ID). It will help solve criminality,” Lacson told reporters on Monday.

“Kasi pag nag transact ka ng business sa gobyerno o sa private entities at yun ang ID mo at talagang nag iisa lang…palagay ko madali kang matutunton kung ikaw yung may criminal record at ganun din kung ikaw ay merong dinispalko… (It will help determine those who have criminal records if it is the lone ID accepted for transactions in businesses with the government or private entities) So it will really help us solve crimes tremendously,” he pointed out.

The proposed national ID system, Lacson said, could be used specifically to go after the tax evaders.

The senator immediately dispelled apprehensions that the national ID system would violate the rights to privacy of individuals since it would not contain bank account number and other confidential information.

“Hindi nakalagay yung bank account number, hindi rin nakagalay dun kung ano yung mga transaction mo, and confidential information about your person. Andun syempre syempre yung date of birth ([The card] will show information like a person’s date of birth but not confidential details like his bank account number and [business] transactions),” he explained.

Lacson could not understand why people would not agree to have one ID when they can carry a number of identifications in their wallet.

“Kasi sa atin, ang laman ng wallet natin, katakot takot na IDs tapos natatakot tayo sa singular ID system? Hindi ko makita yung sense… (I cannot see the sense in being afraid of the singular ID system when we carry various IDs in our wallets),” he further said.