EDITORIAL - National ID

The government’s national identification system has received strong support from majority of Filipinos, the latest survey by the Social Weather Station showed. At least 73 percent of adult Filipinos approved the creation of the Phil-ID, according to the poll.

Massive support for national ID was recorded by SWS in areas where there is strong backing for Duterte’s leadership. According to the survey, 61 percent of Filipinos trust the government in its effort to protect their privacy.

Signed by President Rodrigo Duterte last Monday, the national ID system is aimed at improving government’s delivery of basic services, lessening corruption, and serving as an important tool to keep the public safe.

The survey result was contrary to widespread public perception that the national ID system will cause possible privacy violations and that the government might use it as an instrument to suppress civil liberties.

Of course, it’s the job of the government to assure Filipinos that there is no need for them to fear the Phil-ID, with the National Privacy Commission ensuring full protection of the people’s privacy rights once the law is implemented.

The problem is that there has never been any religious information campaign conducted by the government regarding the national identification system, about how it works and what benefits it brings to every Filipino.

To those who are clueless about it, the national ID would surely send shiver down their spine. And we cannot blame them for being apprehensive because the Phil-ID came into effect at a time when the Duterte administration is being saddled with allegations of massive human rights abuses over its heightened drug war.  

There no question about the good intention of the Phil-ID. The only concern is that the government has failed in the area of properly educating the public about what really the national ID system is all about.