Palace: Passage of national ID measure up to Congress

A Cabinet official said yesterday it would be up to Congress to pass a law requiring a national identification (ID) card for all Filipinos and aliens permanently residing in the Philippines.

"There is nothing wrong with the ID system, as long as safeguards are instituted to protect human rights but it will require legislation," Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina Jr. said.

"So all those discussions will have to be synthesized in a piece of legislation that will be discussed in Congress," he said.

The Philippine National Police (PNP), which is under the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), expressed support yesterday for the proposed national ID system to help fight global and local terrorism.

PNP chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. noted that the ID system will help not only to fight terrorism but also in every transaction in government offices.

"They can use those IDs in every transaction that they have and perhaps to the extent of using it for purposes of voting," Ebdane said, even as he stressed that the system would have safeguards against abuse.

Both Lina and Ebdane attended Monday’s National Security Council meeting at Malacañang during which President Arroyo and other NSC members agreed to implement the ID system as a means to fight terrorists.

As proposed, Filipinos and permanent foreign residents would have to apply for a national ID card at the local civil registrar of the city or town where they live.

At the Senate, lawmakers are divided on the desire of Malacañang to have Senate Bill 1889, which seeks to set up a national identification system (NIS), enacted into law.

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr., the bill’s principal author, said an efficient ID system will enhance security measures against terrorists and help citizens transact with government and private offices.

"The national identification system will benefit all citizens of the country," he said.

Pimentel said he welcomes the endorsement of Malacañang and the NSC for Congress to immediately pass a law imposing a national ID card.

Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr. said he does not see any legal obstacle in the law’s enactment because the NIS will be patterned on the ID being issued by the Social Security System.

During Monday’s NSC meeting, Magsaysay proposed that the NIS be implemented to counter the threat of terrorism.

On the other hand, Sen. Panfilo Lacson has sponsored the National Reference Card System Bill, which would require that a code or reference number be assigned to every Filipino upon birth.

Lacson said the NIS would help the government fight not only terrorists but also kidnappers and other organized criminals.

However, Sen. Teresa Aquino-Oreta said lawmakers should be careful about the hasty passage of the NIS Bill because it may trample on the civil and human rights of citizens.

Oreta said Congress must ensure that any law requiring a national ID card will not "go overboard" and invade the privacy of individuals and violate the bill of rights.

Sen. Joker Arroyo said the Supreme Court had struck down for "being violative of the right to privacy" an earlier version of the NIS during the Ramos administration.

"The government, with its wimpish analysis of its failure to meet effectively the threat of terrorism, points an accusing finger at the deficiency of our laws, Congress itself, even as it turns a blind eye on the deficiencies of our law enforcement agencies and the uniformed service under the executive," he said.

Meanwhile, Sen. Ralph Recto said the NIS could be implemented through the National Health Insurance Card, which Republic Act 7875, the National Health Insurance Act of 1995, requires to be given to all Filipinos.

"There is already a de facto national ID card," he said. "That is the PhilHealth card of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp."

Recto said the PhilHealth Card could be the nucleus of the NIS because it would be an economical means to cover more than 40 million Filipinos.

However, Sen. Edgardo Angara said the war against terrorism should not be used to clamp down on civil liberties and suppress basic political and human rights.

"A war on terror cannot be a war against Filipino citizens, legitimate political dissenters and those expressing their democratic right to free speech and assembly," he said. "We are aware of the excesses that can be done under the guise of fighting terrorism."

At the House of Representatives, a pro-administration and an opposition lawmaker opposed yesterday the revival of a plan to implement a national ID card system.

Bukidnon Rep. Juan Miguel Zubiri (Lakas) said a national ID card would not stop terrorist bombers on their tracks.

"As a deterrent to terrorists, it has the efficacy of an herbolario’s anting-anting (quack’s talisman)," he said.

Minority Leader Carlos Padilla (LDP) said the government could use a national ID card to violate the human rights of citizens.

"The sensitive information proposed to be embodied in such a card could be used to harass citizens, particularly critics of those in power," he said. "It could even be used to extort money from them."

Padilla said the opposition would "fight tooth and nail" against the NIS Bill once it reaches the House.

Meanwhile, militant leaders took turns yesterday in criticizing what they said was the resurrection of an "autocratic system of surveillance" following Malacañang’s decision to introduce a national ID system as a measure against local and foreign terrorism.

The fisherfolk group Pamalakaya said yesterday the national ID card system would pave the way for the establishment of a "de facto" martial law in the country.

In a statement, Fernando Hicap, Pamalakaya national chairman, said Mrs. Arroyo can use the NIS to place the entire population "under the eyes" of the government.

"It is basically a national spy network that makes everyone a candidate for state oppression," read part of the statement.

Sanlakas national president Wilson Fortaleza said the proposal leaves the citizens little comfort if they were to remember how in the past, government has used its awesome machinery for undue political and personal ends.

Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Crispin Beltran said the revival of the proposed ID system and the call for approval of the anti-terror bill bodes ill for civil and human rights in the country.

"Civil libertarians should watch out for the increasing militarism of the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo administration, and oppose all its attempts to justify a clampdown on civil rights," said Beltran. –Marichu Villanueva, Sammy Santos, Jess Diaz, Sandy Araneta, Romel Bagares, Christina Mendez