Walang silbi

I had emptied out the drawers in my desk; when my helper asked what was happening I told her I couldn’t find my National ID. She said, “Hayaan mo na, walang silbi naman yung National ID na yan. Gamitin mo nalang yung UMID o senior ID,” referring to the Unified Multi-Purpose ID.

I had applied for the National ID in March 2022. Late last year I received a paper copy of the ID, which was what I had been looking for that day. I finally found it, folded and tucked away in my wallet. In the process I found my COVID vax certificates, indicating the four shots I had – two Sinovacs in early 2021 (oblivious then of the supposed Pentagon-sponsored disinformation campaign) and two Moderna boosters.

Two years and three months after applying I have not received the actual National ID card. Maybe my plastic card was among the mail incinerated in the May 2023 fire that gutted the historic Manila Post Office building. Anyway, this paper copy – or ePhilID – supposedly “contains all the information in the PhilID and has the same functionality and validity.”

Just to be sure, I scanned the QR code…only to be told there was “No usable data.” Exactly what that means I don’t know; could I possibly be a citizen of questionable documentation (like Alice from Bamban-land? But I have my birth certificate and complete naturalization papers!) or was that QR code just wonky? At any rate, I guess my helper’s right – walang silbi. I wonder why I bother carrying it in my wallet.

RA 11055 signed in August 2018 mandates a “single national identification system to provide a valid proof of identity for Filipino citizens and resident aliens.” It is supposed to be used as proof of who you really are for all transactions with government as well as private entities that require proof of one’s identity. Institutions that do not recognize or accept the PhilID face a fine of P500,000 (there is a proposal to raise that to P1 million).

Unfortunately, the good intention to have just one ID in place of multiple IDs doesn’t quite work out in the real world. When my helper went to open a bank account (I won’t say which bank as they could be fined P500,000) and presented her PhilID (the actual plastic card, which she received a couple of months ago, even though she applied a few weeks after I did), the bank accepted it but asked for another government ID that had her signature – the absence of which is a crucial flaw of the PhilID. Banks can’t be faulted for this; of course they need verification of the account holder’s signature. Ay mali!

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This brings to mind another law the silbi (usefulness) of which leaves a lot to be desired – RA 11934 or the SIM Registration law, signed in October 2022. Again, the intent of the law is laudable – to remove the anonymity of SIM card holders so that they can be traced and called to account for whatever illegal things they do, like kidnappers sending ransom demands, extortionists demanding payment, etc. But the most common – and the main intent of the law to prevent – are scam/sham text messages, phishing, smishing and whatever other -shings may be perpetrated through text messaging.

Again, in the real world, things don’t quite work out as planned. I get around six to eight such texts a day – and night. Accounts I do not have with banks I do not deal with about to be frozen unless I update them. Packages undeliverable because of incomplete address. Bonus amounts (the last one was P6,140 valid for only eight hours!) credited to my number. And – lucky me! – I’ve been pre-qualified to play in some game with big bonus prizes… The variations are myriad, but they all require me to click on some link.

Since communication is now mostly done through platforms like Viber, WhatsApp, Telegram and Messenger, practically all texts I receive these days are scams, so I usually just ignore text alerts.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology has called for an audit of the SIM registration database, finally admitting that text scams continue to proliferate.

Recently, a senator called out the National Telecommunications Commission after thousands of unregistered SIM cards and those registered with false identities were found in POGO/crime hubs in Bamban and Porac, supposedly used in criminal activities like love scams. The NTC at a June 21 Senate hearing admitted that the SIM Registration Law is an “important tool” but “not a silver bullet against messaging scams,” and promised to “continue to tighten its regulations pertaining to SIM registration to the fullest extent allowed under the existing law.” The DICT said the problem is not with the law but the authentication process, again a flaw in the law. The NTC said it is working with law enforcement agencies to  investigate the rising cases of text scams. The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center said it would file complaints against telcos keeping subscribers with unregistered SIM cards. 

How miscreants manage to use unregistered SIM cards or register so many SIM cards using false identities is one of those questions you probably should not bother asking. RA 11934 provides penalties of six months to two years’ prison term and/or a fine of P300,000 for giving false information when registering a SIM card. It should not be that difficult to trace the store or outlet or dealer that sold those SIM cards and accepted those false identification documents. Maybe the proofs of identity submitted were ePhilIDs, probably with no usable data.