Senate ratifies national ID system

PRIVACY ISSUE Since 2005, critics have raised fears that the proposed ID system will
jeopardize the security of Filipinos and leave them vulnerable to violations of their privacy and
other rights. —INQUIRER PHOTO

The proposed national identification system is now a step away to becoming a law.

On Tuesday, or a day before Congress adjourns sine die, the Senate adopted the bicameral conference committee report on the Philippine Identification System Act.

READ: Senate, House panels OK national ID system

Once ratified by both chambers of Congress— the Senate and the House of Representatives — the measure will be transmitted to Malacañang for President Rodrigo Duterte’s signature.

Only Senator Risa Hontiveros, an opposition member, registered a no-vote on the measure.

Senator Panfilo Lacson, who spearheaded the passage of the measure in the Senate as chairman of the committee on public order and dangerous drugs, earlier noted that at present, there are various identification cards being issued to government workers alone.

Lacson cited the Unified Multi-Purpose ID or UMID, which is issued to the members of the Social Security System (SSS), Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), and the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund).

“Several government-issued ID numbers are also in use, resulting in duplication of efforts, wastage of resources, and uncoordinated identity approaches. In fact, a perusal of the list of valid IDs in the Philippines enumerates 33 – I repeat, 33 – different forms of identification issued by various government agencies,” he said when he sponsored the measure on the floor last March.

The measure, he said, would “harmonize, integrate, and interconnect these countless and redundant government IDs” by establishing a single national identification system. /je