Press Release
March 19, 2018

Sen. Joel Villanueva's explanation of vote on bill creating a national ID system

Mr. President, I vote yes.

Magbubukas ng oportunidad sa bawat Filipino ang panukalang Philippine Identification System.

Let's take the case of a jobseeker or a fresh graduate who goes through the burden of securing multifarious documents just to apply for a job.

At present, he or she needs to get a police and NBI clearance, barangay clearance, birth certificate, marriage certificate, tax identification number, the list goes on and on depending on the nature of employment.

If we have a real unified ID system, the process of job application will never be that cumbersome for first-time jobseekers, especially millenials who want to accomplish things in a swift manner.

Hindi po ba't sayang talaga ang oras sa pagkuha ng sari-saring dokumento, sa pagtengga sa pila, sa pagpapabalik-balik sa iba't iba at magkakalayong mga ahensya ng gobyerno?

Hindi po ba mas madali kung 'yung halos 14 na iba't ibang ID o dokumento na hawak ng mga Filipino ngayon, pagsama-samahin na lang sa isang National ID card?

Mr. President, the National ID System can make social inclusion possible by providing official identification to Filipinos, most especially indigenous peoples, who usually have no access to documents required for employment, financial or banking services, and education and training.

Sa TESDA noon, nanawagan po tayo sa mga mall operators na maglagay ng "Specialista Desk" sa loob ng kanilang mga mall. Tumugon po dito ang Robinsons Land Corporation.

Noong 2014, sa 19 na Robinson's Mall sa iba't ibang lugar sa Pilipinas, mayroon ng "TESDA Specialista Desk", a one-stop-shop on tech-voc and TESDA's programs and services.

Ganito po ang imahe sa isip ko ng panukalang National ID System - kumpleto, mabilis, at de-kalidad na serbisyo sa ating mga kababayan.

Noon pa, pangarap na po natin na sana, balang araw, kapag may isang Filipinong lumapit sa anumang ahensya ng gobyerno, magpakita lang siya ng isang ID, mapagkakalooban na siya ng serbisyo.

Mr. President, we believe that a good National ID System will result to better delivery of and access to government services because it can reduce cost both to the government and the Filipino citizens.

Kaya't Suportado po natin ang Senate Bill 1738 lalo na't isa po ang Pilipinas sa natitirang siyam na bansa sa buong mundo na wala pang National ID System. Sa tingin ko, may kaugnayan po ito sa sitwasyon natin ngayon na halos walong milyong Filipino ang ni walang birth certificate.

Kung wala man lang pong birth registration ang walong milyong kababayan natin, paano po sila makakapasok sa trabaho o makakakuha ng serbisyo sa gobyerno?

However, Mr. President, we don't want indiscriminate data collection and we believe that the data to be collected by the Philippine Registry for the National ID shall be limited to demographic information like name, sex, date and place of birth, and address and biometrics information like facial image and fingerprints - these data and information are adequate to help facilitate jobs and services to our people.

We also support the funding for a national ID system amounting to 2 Billion Pesos which I believe, has already been made available in the General Appropriations Act under the budget of the Philippine Statistics Authority.

We thank Senator Lacson for sponsoring this measure and rest assured that we will support the passage of Senate Bill 1738 because we believe that it can open up more opportunities to all Filipinos.

Thank you, Mr. President. God bless us all.

News Latest News Feed