‘…I guess we all should exercise extreme caution with the National ID system gone nowhere because someone out there has our information and maybe not even God knows what can be done with that!’
HAVE you ever wondered what the hell has happened to the “National ID” project that was launched, if I am not mistaken, during the Duterte Administration? I distinctly remember trooping to SM Aura to go through the process of getting my information loaded into the system. Biometrics, I think it was. Then, at the end of the process, they gave you this slip of paper, which was your claim stub of sorts. Proof that you were in the system and all you had to do was wait for the card to be delivered to you.
What I got was an email that told me my card had been issued. But I didn’t have a plastic card; what I had was a piece of paper downloaded, and which I had laminated. But it was too big to fit in a wallet. And didn’t look like an ID to me.
I am told that the “National ID” isn’t even accepted as an official ID, unlike the driver’s license or the passport.
If this is true, it is no different from the Unified ID that was a project of an even previous administration (PNoy’s?), which was supposed to take the place of the SSS and GSIS IDs. A worthwhile project, but again, useless. My Unified ID, like my laminated paper National ID, is not recognized as an official form of identification.
It’s just another card that fattens my wallet for no purpose.
What are these efforts? They start with a lot of hoopla, promising to be the be-all and end-all of IDs in the Philippines. And then what?
Are these just another way for interested parties to make money off the Filipino people? Are these projects just another example of our skill at starting things but not knowing how to finish, or how to close? Are they just the latest examples of government projects that are designed to earn the most publicity mileage at the start and then are just forgotten and when forgotten, are conveniently shelved?
Or maybe all of the above!
Frankly, I was hopeful when my UP Law classmate, Ivan Uy, was in charge; I didn’t have the same faith before him, nor after him. I’m resigned to just waiting for another announcement of another ID system.
But in an era where personal information is perhaps one of the most valuable assets of an individual, I am no longer sure about trusting the government with anything beyond what I’ve shared about myself on the e.Gov platform.
People can make money using our personal information. And they will. And so I guess we all should exercise extreme caution with the National ID system gone nowhere because someone out there has our information and maybe not even God knows what can be done with that!
