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By Maricel V. Cruz Reporter
The chairman of the House
Committee on Appropriations said on Wednesday that the proposed
national ID system should be junked because it is open to abuse by
security forces and consequently lead to human-rights abuses.
Besides, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman
added, the government may not be able to afford the cost of setting
up such system. He said installing it is “expensive and can cause
severe inconvenience.” Lagman did not give figures. The ID card,
he said, “could be lost, stolen, damaged, tampered with, or the
computer system and/or biometric reading machinery could bog
down.”
But Lagman conceded that the
proposal could help improve delivery of basic services to Filipinos.
At least, Lagman said, “The
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has no veiled intention in
recommending the revival of the shelved proposal to institutionalize
a national identification card system. The military openly admitted
that it will use the identification scheme as a counter-insurgency
measure.”
The rights advocate and lawyer,
who is seen as a staunch government ally, said the ID system would
restrict civil liberties, more particularly the rights to due
process, privacy, travel and equality.
“It could be used to harass and
discriminate against political activists and critics of government
even as it would stifle political dissent,” Lagman added. “It
would institutionalize a national inventory and surveillance
infrastructure that could conduct intrusive searches without due
process of law.”
There has been no positive
empirical link between identification cards and the prevention and
suppression of terrorism and insurgency, Lagman said.
Citing studies by Privacy
International, a London-based global rights group, he said no
empirical research has established how identification cards can be
used as a means of preventing terrorism.
“The pervasive fear that the
[2007] Human Security Act could be abused by agents of the state
could escalate with the national ID system,” Lagman added,
referring to the Antiterrorism Law. “Individual citizens deprived
of peace of mind arising from arbitrary intrusion into their private
lives and affairs cannot enjoy whatever protection from terrorism
that the [law] may achieve.”
Instead of a national ID system,
Lagman suggested government programs that will address poverty. Such
programs, he said, will be the “most effective” measure to put
an end to long-running insurgencies in the country.
No cause for alarm
The Commission on Human Rights
said the proposal is “no cause for alarm yet.”
Wilhelm Soriano, commissioner in
charge for Metro Manila, added that commenting on a mere idea from
the military would be premature. He welcomed President Gloria
Arroyo’s order for the Defense department to study further the
military’s proposal. Soriano said they expect from the department
recommendations that are rights-compliant and within the boundary of
the law.
The national police chief,
Director General Avelino Razon Jr., said the implementation of the
national ID system would not violate the rights of the people.
‘Silent implementation’
United Opposition (UNO) president
and Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay said on Wednesday that Malacañang,
through the Interior department, is already laying the ground for
the “silent implementation” of the ID system at the barangay
level. He cited a memorandum sent by the department’s chief,
Ronaldo Puno, to Mrs. Arroyo last September proposing implementation
of the Registry of Barangay Inhabitants System (RBIS).
Binay said the memorandum
provides that the system will cover all barangay units nationwide,
and require residents 15 years old and older who have been residing
in their barangay for at least six months to register.
A vocal critic of the
administration, he challenged Malacañang to reveal the current
status of the registry proposal.
Binay warned that the
registration system could also serve as a “convenient cover” for
another people’s initiative to amend the Constitution.
The Puno memorandum cited Section
394 (d) (6) of the Local Government Code that requires the barangay
secretary to keep an updated record of all residents of a barangay.
The record shall contain the “name, address, place and date of
birth, sex, civil status, citizenship, occupation, and such other
items of information as may be prescribed by law or ordinances.”
For the registry, Binay said, the
Interior department is planning to work with Philippine Health
Insurance Inc. since many local-government units provide health
services to constituents through PhilHealth. The team-up will
require P22 million for the pilot phase (October 2007 to August
2008) alone. Binay added that the department wants to use
PhilHealth’s program as a vehicle in registering every inhabitant
in a barangay.
Puno’s memorandum also said
full implementation of the barangay registry will start September
2008. The registration of all residents—which will entail the
establishment of barangay enrollment centers, enrollment of all
residents, and the issuance of ID cards—will last until October
2009.
“Given the recent attempts to
revive Charter change, the registration system could even be part of
a design to resurrect the discredited people’s initiative scheme
hatched by Malacañang operators,” said Binay. He added that in
August 2007, Mrs. Arroyo transferred the responsibility for
implementing Executive Order 420 or the Unified Multipurpose ID
System to the Interior department.
Binay said the national ID system
is already being pilot-tested in three government agencies: National
Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), National Statistics
Office and PhilHealth. Based on the NEDA’s timeline, he added,
full implementation of the ID system for the government sector will
begin in July 2008.
--Ira Karen Apanay And James Konstantin Galvez
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