The system will be pilot-tested in the National Economic and Development Authority and the National Statistics Office, President Arroyo said at a briefing in Malacañang Wednesday.
She said the one-ID system is better because the government’s multiple identification systems are redundant, costly and inconvenient for people who have to carry several identification cards.
NSO Administrator Carmelita Ericta said about P80 million from the e-government fund has been earmarked to jump-start the new system.
Under the unified identification system, a typical card will bear data covering a person’s name, sex, date of birth, place of birth, parents’ names as well as biometric information like two index fingerprints, cardholder’s picture and other pertinent data.
To distinguish one card from another, a permanent 12-digit common reference number will be assigned to each, Ericta said.
“Agencies will also decide on what material to use for their cards,” she said.
NEDA Director General Romulo Neri said a government employee will have to pay an average of P50 and P100 for a unified card.
“For cards with enhanced features, however, they may have to pay a little more,” he said.
The unified cards will replace identification cards of public agencies including the Government Service Insurance System and the Social Security System, Ericta said. However, driving licenses from the Land Transportation Office, Professional Regulation Commission-issued cards and other internationally recognized identification documents like passports will be retained.
She said the unified identification card system is different from the national identification card system because the government undertook the former based on Executive Order 420.
Ericta said implementing the national identification system would require a corresponding law.
To ensure precedence of people’s right to privacy over efficient public service delivery, Section 6 of EO 420 provides for the unified system minimum safeguards. “The data to be recorded and stored, which shall be used only for establishing the identity of a person, shall be limited to those specified in Section 3 of this executive order,” the order said.
EO 420 also said, “In no case shall the collection or compilation of other data in violation of a person’s right to privacy be allowed or tolerated under this order; stringent systems of access control to data in the identification system shall be instituted; data collected and stored for this purpose shall be kept and treated as strictly confidential and a personal or written authorization of the owner shall be required for access and disclosure of data; the identification card to be issued shall be protected by advanced security features and cryptographic technology; and a written request by the owner of the identification card shall be required for any correction or revision of relevant data, or under such conditions as the participating agency issuing the identification card shall prescribe.”
Ericta said the private sector can adapt the unified system voluntarily.
Autor(en)/Author(s): Sam Mediavilla
Quelle/Source: The Manila Times, 24.08.2006
