By Rey Panaligan
Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Menardo Guevarra yesterday said the information on a person in the national ID system can be accessed by third parties only with the consent of the registered person or on order of a court.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra
(TOTO LOZANO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Underscoring the importance and confidentiality in the Philippine Identification System Act under Republic Act No. 11055 that was signed by President Duterte last week, Guevarra said: "Under this new law, registered information can only be accessed by third parties if the registered person gives his/her consent, or if there is a court order.
"Identity theft will be prevented, making it harder to commit crimes and acts of terrorism. Law offenders can be identified and located more easily.”
A large database for all Filipinos and even for resident aliens would be created under the national ID system.
Earlier, Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar enumerated the various benefits of the national ID system aside from its main objective of facilitating and expediting government transactions.
Andanar also said the national ID would help curb corruption and red tape, particularly for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who need to return to the Philippines just to renew their IDs.
A Philippine News Agency (PNA) report stated that under RA 11055, a foundational ID system called PhilSys, will be in place and will have three components -- PhilSys Number (PSN), PhilID and PhilSys Registry.
It said PSN is a randomly generated, unique, and permanent identification number for each individual, to be incorporated in all identification systems of government agencies. PhilID is a non-transferable card with the PSN and basic information, it said.
It also said the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) is mandated to act as the PhilSys Registry.
The same report stated that the under the national ID law, the PSA will collate the full name, sex, birth date, address, citizenship, and blood type of Filipino citizens and encode them in a centralized database.
The law ensures that the individual's right to privacy is protected, the report also stated.
It said the PhilID will be a non-transferable card containing on its face the PSN, full name, facial image, date of birth, address and fingerprints of the registered owner.
The PSA said that all Filipinos are expected to be registered with PhilSys in two to five years.
The national ID system is expected to be launched late this year and implemented full blast in 2019. PSA targets the registration of 25 million Filipinos annually.