The National ID System

I’m going to switch subjects for just a bit, and discuss the idea of a national ID system, which is back in the news again.

Always the subject of heated debate, the national ID system is a controversial and emotional issue for many Filipinos. The fear of abuse, and indeed the potential for it, is high, given this country's history. Nevertheless, government must have the ability to accurately identify its own citizens. This is not only necessary from the standpoint of law enforcement, but more importantly to allow basic social mechanisms to function properly. Medical benefits, social services, even cashing a check all require that a person's identity be verifiable. And of course, it is only possible to know if an arrested person is wanted for a previous offense if his identity can be clearly determined. Without some form of accurate ID system, that is not possible. On a recent television talk show, the host mentioned that he is frequently misidentified as another person with the same name, who happens to be wanted for some sort of offense. The host said that he finds it difficult to travel, since his name triggers an alert at the immigration counter whenever he tries to depart the country. In most cases in the Philippines, the name alone is the sole identifier used to distinguish one person from another.
Many governments around the world use a national ID system. Most developed countries, however, rely on a combination of routine ID cards to cover the majority of their population. In the United States, for example, almost every adult has a driver's license. While it's not a foolproof form of identification, enough care is taken when it is issued that most businesses (and government offices) are satisfied with its validity and accuracy. In most states, the same office that issues driver’s licenses can issue an identification card, similar in style, for those residents who don’t drive.

In the Philippines, there are a variety of widely issued forms of identification that collectively cover most of the adult population. Driver’s licenses, military and government employee ID’s, voter’s ID’s, passports, Philhealth (Philippine Health Insurance Corporation) Cards, and taxpayer ID’s are held by millions of Filipinos. Most of these are high-quality, computer-generated cards, containing enough information to clearly identify the holder. Less sophisticated, but still commonly used, are postal ID cards, issued by the local Post Office, and residence certificates, commonly called cedula, issued by a city government. Between all of these, most adult Filipinos are eligible for some form of reliable, government issued identification card.

The problem in the Philippines is not the card, but rather the identification process itself. With some exceptions, little care is given to validating the information presented by the applicant before one of these ID cards is issued. In the course of my work in the private security industry, I have handled all manner of ID cards. I have seen a number of postal ID’s for example, issued to transvestites, with a photograph of the man dressed as a woman, and bearing a woman’s name. Even though this is a very basic identification card, the issuing authorities are still supposed to go through a certain verification process before issuing the card. In this case, I doubt that the male applicant’s real name was “Stephanie”, or that his true appearance included earrings, makeup, and false eyelashes. This might be a humorous example, but in reality the card will be the basis for identifying that person when opening a bank account, applying for a job, or notarizing a contract. In those cases, it’s not too much to ask that the information on the card be accurate. A little supervisory oversight can ensure that it is.

The objection that most people have to a national ID system is not really to the card, but rather to the collecting of citizen’s information into some sort of massive database. There is a fear that such a list could be abused by law enforcers in a variety of ways. According to the UK based watchdog group Privacy International:

The threat of insurgents or political extremists, and the exercise of religious discrimination have been all too common as motivation for the establishment of ID systems which would force enemies of the State into registration, or make them vulnerable in the open without proper documents.”

I agree completely that registration systems are potentially dangerous, a statement that history has validated many times over. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that we shouldn’t have a way to identify the man on the street.

A national ID system would involve the issuance of tens of millions of cards to cover the entire adult population of the Philippines. But before that can happen, there must be debate and decisions about what information the cards will carry. The debate itself will be time-consuming and costly. Once those issues are finally decided, a very expensive contract must be awarded. As is typical in the Philippines, this will undoubtedly lead to more debate, and will certainly take a very long time to go from idea to action. And most certainly, the possibility is high that corruption will figure in the process of choosing a supplier. Finally, the logistics and expense of actually issuing an ID card to every adult in the country will be on the scale of a national election. In addition to all that, a database with the names of all adults in the country must be developed and accurately maintained. It’s not enough just to create the list. New registrants must be added quickly, and that means receiving and entering volumes of data from all parts of the country on a continuing basis. This will require staff and equipment in permanent offices.

In the face of that incredible expense, combined with the uncertainty of public acceptance, it does not make sense to consider implementing a whole new national system, especially when there are already several types of ID in widespread use. It is much more practical to spend a fraction of that money, and only a portion of the time, to strengthen those existing systems. Each of the ID's mentioned above serves a legitimate, useful purpose. Cleaning up those systems, by improving the verification process, and automating those databases, will make the ID's more effective for their original purpose, and will fulfill the need for a national system at the same time.

This is a much more efficient use of public money, and it addresses the problem directly, rather than through a workaround solution. The public will almost certainly see the benefits of this approach, and support the idea much more enthusiastically.