SEN. Panfilo Lacson yesterday expressed optimism the proposed national identification system will be ratified in the first quarter of next year.
Lacson, chair of the Senate sub-committee on the Filipino Identification System Act, made the statement after yesterday’s public hearing on 10 Senate bills seeking to establish a unified ID system.
Another hearing will be conducted on Monday to hear oppositors, Lacson said. The Monday hearing could be the final one, he said, and the sub-committee will then come up with a report on the measure. The report is expected to be readily approved as most senators support the proposal to have a national ID.
The House passed its version of the bill last September.
Senate minority leader Franklin Drilon, main author of the national ID bill, shared Lacson’s optimism that the measure would be implemented in 2018, and allayed fears the ID system would compromise the citizens’ rights to privacy.
He said proposed measure should not be viewed as a threat to security as the main objective of the bill is to ensure efficient delivery of service and to ease transactions with government agencies.
“There will be proper safeguards so as not to interfere with the individual’s right to privacy. It will also be ensured that unscrupulous persons will not have access to confidential information,” he said.
Lisa Grace Bersales, national statistician and civil registrar general of the Philippine Statistics Authority, dispelled fears of a breach in privacy, saying that the agency has not had any breach in its data record.
Drilon said the data that are being proposed to be included in the national ID system would not be different from the information that currently present in all government-issued IDs.
For the initial phase, Drilon suggested coverage for those 21 years old and older, or about 100,981,437 Filipinos.
Lacson, chair of the Senate sub-committee on the Filipino Identification System Act, made the statement after yesterday’s public hearing on 10 Senate bills seeking to establish a unified ID system.
Another hearing will be conducted on Monday to hear oppositors, Lacson said. The Monday hearing could be the final one, he said, and the sub-committee will then come up with a report on the measure. The report is expected to be readily approved as most senators support the proposal to have a national ID.
The House passed its version of the bill last September.
Senate minority leader Franklin Drilon, main author of the national ID bill, shared Lacson’s optimism that the measure would be implemented in 2018, and allayed fears the ID system would compromise the citizens’ rights to privacy.
He said proposed measure should not be viewed as a threat to security as the main objective of the bill is to ensure efficient delivery of service and to ease transactions with government agencies.
“There will be proper safeguards so as not to interfere with the individual’s right to privacy. It will also be ensured that unscrupulous persons will not have access to confidential information,” he said.
Lisa Grace Bersales, national statistician and civil registrar general of the Philippine Statistics Authority, dispelled fears of a breach in privacy, saying that the agency has not had any breach in its data record.
Drilon said the data that are being proposed to be included in the national ID system would not be different from the information that currently present in all government-issued IDs.
For the initial phase, Drilon suggested coverage for those 21 years old and older, or about 100,981,437 Filipinos.
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