THE government is set to implement a unified identification system for persons with disability (PWD) by the end of the year to address the proliferation of fake IDs, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said yesterday.
“By the end of this year, meron na tayong unified ID system (By the end of this year, we will have a unified ID system),” DSWD Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao said in an interview over radio dzBB.
Dumlao, also the department’s spokeswoman, said the DSWD has started the six-month pilot implementation which will run from January to June this year and the terms of reference for the full implementation of issuance and use of a unified PWD ID is ongoing.
Dumlao said the agency is working with the National Privacy Commission, the Department of Information and Communications Technology, and the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) to ensure data security among PWDs, and the smooth issuance of the unified PWD IDs.
She said among the special features of the unified PWD ID is the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) that captures the biometrics of the ID holders and is linked to a web portal where the legitimacy of the user can be verified.
Data from the National Council on Disability Affairs showed there are some 1.9 million persons with disability in the country as of January 2025.
Several establishments have raised concerns and complaints about the widespread abuse and proliferation of fake PWD IDs.
Under Republic Act 10754, PWDs are entitled to a 20 percent discount and value-added tax exemption on certain goods and services from all establishments.
