Proposed national ID to contain confidential info

Once passed into law, the proposed national identification system will require all adult Filipinos to secure a “Filipino ID card” containing personal information, such as their name, birth date, blood type, height, weight and permanent address.

Confidential information is also to be stored in a corresponding database to be kept by the government, including their e-mail address, mobile number, marriage certificate, passport, social security and tax identification numbers.

According to House Bill 6221, three sets of information shall be maintained under the Filipino Identification System or FilSys: on the card, in a smart chip embedded in the card, and in an electronic database kept and administered by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

On the card, the following information will be available: the cardholder’s Common Reference Number (CRN), full name, a front-facing photograph, sex, birth date, birthplace, permanent address, blood type and a barcode.

In the smart chip embedded in the card, the following additional information shall be retrievable: the owner’s enrollment date, marital status, parents’ full names, height, weight, distinguishing features, and Tax Identification Number.

The chip will also contain a record of the cardholder’s biometrics information, which includes scans of their fingerprints, an iris scan and a “facial image exception code.”

A PSA-administered database will keep other private data, including the cardholder’s temporary mailing address, e-mail address, mobile number, spouse’s CRN, marriage certificate reference number, parents’ CRNs and marriage certificate number, as well as other relevant information to “prove filiation,” including paternity, maternity and legitimacy or illegitimacy of a child.

The database will record other personal circumstances, such as the owner’s Philippine passport number and social security number.

The bill was passed on second reading on Wednesday.

In her sponsorship speech, Laguna Rep. Sol Aragones, chair of the population and family relations committee, said the objective was a “single, unified and streamlined national ID system” that would simplify public service, and reduce redundancy and delays in government transactions.