EDITORIAL - National ID is back and must be rejected again

It is difficult to understand why the long and repeatedly mothballed proposal to institute a national ID is being revived yet again. That it has seen multiple deaths just doesn't seem to convince those who want to revive it again that the Filipino people just do not want such an ID. Period. It is not that the proponents have found a new beneficial argument to try and beat the dead horse back to life. They are still using the same old stick and it is not working.

A national ID does not serve any worthy and practical purpose in face of the many other identification cards that this country cannot do without. There is for example the driver's license card, which the Land Transportation Office issues to applicants after undergoing several qualifying procedures. A driver's license cannot be replaced with a national ID. Or do the proponents now want the LTO to issue national IDs instead of driver's licenses.

Then there is the SSS membership card which the Social Security System issues bonafide members employed in the private sector. For those working in government, there is the GSIS membership card which the Government Service Insurance System issues its members. Are the proponents of the national ID suggesting that both the SSS and the GSIS replace their respective membership cards with the national ID?

Even more important, perhaps, is the Professional Regulation Commission ID card which the PRC issues its members from the different professions. A PRC card is like a trophy to its holder. It is an announcement of one's profession. It is a testament to one's academic achievement for which he or she strove mightily to enjoy the privilege of having. It is more than just an identification. It is a gratification for all the years and tears sacrificed just to have that mighty card.

And now come those who would take that away from our professionals. There is immeasurable pride and joy in flashing a PRC card where it denotes the holder to be a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer, a nurse, or whatever profession the owner strove so hard to become. And you just replace that with something as flat and generic as a national ID?

There is great wisdom and practical sense in the street-smart exhortation "if it ain't broke don't fix it." And the fact of the matter is, there is no crying need for a national ID - not since, not now, not ever. And why for must we have a national ID? Will our lives be better with it? If our country does not rise or fall on account of it, that means it serves not the slightest measure of significance in our lives.

If the purpose is to serve out the wishes of President Duterte's desire to cut red tape, cut the fingers of the corrupt who cause the red tape. If the intent is to unify all information about a person, then no uniformity can be achieved as no two IDs will be alike. Some will include a license to drive, different memberships and professions and will be longer, perhaps a foot long, and thus very cumbersome. Those with just their names and ages to their persons will be short, like an inch.