Senator Erwin Tulfo called on authorities on Tuesday, December 9 to consider providing lifetime validity of identification cards for persons with permanent, visible disability.

Tulfo, chairman of the Senate Committee on Social Justice, Welfare, and Rural Development, reiterated that providing lifetime validity for IDs for those whose disabilities are “very apparent” and permanent is an act of respect, as it is an acknowledgment of the truth of their condition.

It also reduces administrative barriers and allows government resources to be directed precisely towards them, the senator said.

 “I hope that providing lifetime valid IDs to those with permanent disability be considered already. If an applicant already has no hands, or feet, blind, or deaf, —an illness that has no chance of recovering, or a disability that is apparent, then they should be given lifetime validity,” Tulfo said during the panel’s hearing on Senate Bill No. 1405.

“I really hope that we can make it, as New Year’s gift to our PWDs,” he said.

SB No. 1405 seeks to amend Republic Act No. 7277 or the "Magna Carta for Persons with Disability." The bill primarily seeks to ease the burden on PWDs by granting lifetime validity to PWD IDs issued to individuals with certified permanent disabilities. 

During the hearing, the National Council on Disability Affairs, the primary agency tasked to be the policy-making, coordinating and monitoring body for PWDs in the country, affirmed its support to the passage of the measure. 

The NCDA said it supports the policy of lifetime validity for identification cards issued through the unified digital system, requiring repeated renewals for long-term or enduring functional limitations, imposes avoidable burdens and contradicts the principle of accessibility and non-discrimination under the UNCRPD.

But while the unified system will recognize lifetime validity, the NCDA clarified that future assessments may be undertaken only when necessary, to safeguard the rights, protection, and well-being of persons with disability and not as a means of repeated requirement for PWDs to prove their disability.

“Such assessment remains rights-based, respectfully in functional realities than label,” Atty. Walter Jason Alava, NCDA’s regional program director said.

Nevertheless, Alava said the NCDA will still enlist the help of the Department of Health (DOH) in determining the eligibility of an applicant in the Unified Persons with Disability Identification System.

 “Categories established by the DOH should serve as health management and reference frameworks, not as gatekeeping criteria for disability recognition. Eligibility…must be based on a comprehensive assessment of functional limitations conducted by multi-disciplinary teams,” he said.

Tulfo reiterated passage of the bill into law would reaffirm the government’s commitment to inclusivity, social justice, and the full participation of PWDs in the society. 

“This is a small but meaningful step toward respecting PWDs’ rights, easing their burdens, and streamlining public service,” Tulfo said.