(Eagle News) — Progressive lawmakers on Wednesday, May 23, slammed the approval of a measure that seeks to put a national ID system in place.
In a statement, ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio said “the bill might be a tool to “deprive basic social services and discriminate against those who do not have the ID once the law is implemented.”
He added that it empowers the government to gather information of an individual that was “of exceptional scope and interest.”
“The information includes, not just the basic personal data, but also ‘sensitive personal information,’ including biometrics and other identifiable features of an individual that would be included later in the crafting of an implementing rules and regulations,” he said.
ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro agreed, saying the bill was a “threat” to the privacy of Filipinos.
Gabriela Partylist Rep. Arlene Brosas said if passed into law, “it will be lotto’s grand prize for online criminals and identity theft.”
“With President [Rodrigo] Duterte’s emerging dictatorial rule, the deteriorating human rights situation, the increasing number of extrajudicial killings, martial law in Mindanao, a total war in the countryside, and the Duterte regime’s tyrannical rule, the bill may be used against those who criticize and oppose his policies,” Castro added.
On Tuesday, May 22, the bicameral conference approved the bill that seeks to consolidate all government IDs into one.
It will then be submitted to President Rodrigo Duterte for his signing into law.