To prevent use/spread of fake ones: PWD IDs to be unified

CEBU, Philippines — A unified ID system that will employ a web-based portal that can be used for real-time updating and ID verification by business establishments will be created to stop the proliferation of fake IDs of persons with disabilities, the Department of Social Welfare and Development said.

This was among the resolutions of the roundtable discussion with stakeholders presided by Secretary Rex Gatchalian last week at the DSWD’s central office in Quezon City.

While still in the process of creating the system, Gatchalian urged the public to report incidents involving the sale of fake PWD IDs to the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA), an attached agency of the DSWD, through [email protected], to the Persons with Disability Affairs Office (PDAO), or any law enforcement agency.

Under the NCDA’s Administrative Order No. 001, Series of 2008, PWD IDs are exclusively issued to individuals with permanent disabilities caused by one or more of the following conditions: speech impairment, learning disability, intellectual disability, mental disability, visual disability, psychosocial disability, physical disability, deaf and hard-of-hearing, cancer and rare diseases.

The NCDA’s administrative order includes individuals with disabling diseases that significantly limit their ability to perform daily activities.

These IDs are issued exclusively by the LGU’s PWD Affairs Office after the submission of appropriate documentation confirming the medical or disability condition of a person applying for such ID.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has also launched a national crackdown against the sale and use of fake person with disability IDs as revenue losses from this type of tax evasion scheme already amounted to over ?88 billion.

Under the law, persons with disabilities’ benefits include a 20% discount and an exemption from value-added tax on certain goods and services. But unscrupulous persons have exploited this system by selling PWD IDs to those fraudulently seeking to claim these benefits via online marketplaces, making them easily accessible.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Statistics Authority nears target registration of 92 million Filipinos on the National ID system by the end of the year.

This as a total of 91,130,320 Filipinos have already registered for the National lD or 98.9% of the target registration based on PSA’s latest data.

They have conducted a house-to-house registration in Bayugan City, Agusan; reached out to indigenous peoples of Batak and Tagbanua tribe in Palawan;, had a Rehistro Bulilit in the municipality of San Miguel, Catanduanes; and reached out to the students of Layugan lntegrated School in the municipality of Bucay, Abra, and other schools in the country including here in Cebu.

Registry Office Deputy National Statistician Rosalinda Bautista called on all Filipinos to register with the National ID system. — (FREEMAN)