THE Social Security System is all set for the implementation of the Unified Multi-Purpose Identification System (Umid) by May, according to the government pension fund president Romulo Neri.

In an interview Friday, Neri bared that they will start the bidding process by May of this year, adding that the distribution of the identification cards to those who will enroll in the program by end of the year.

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Umid is the proposed ID system that will unify the numerous government identification cards such as the SSS, the GSIS, Pag-IBIG, and PhilHealth.

Other agencies that are also being proposed to be included in the ID system are the Land Transportation Office, Department of Social Welfare and Development, PhilPost, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, the Department of Interior and Local Government, and the Commission on Elections.

"This will eliminate the redundancy of government data base and government issued ID cards," Neri said.

In order to ensure the integrity of the new ID system, Neri added that the procedure will be fully automated using the same technology being used by the pension fund.

"The SSS will be the core Umid system," Neri said, explaining that the SSS will be the central agency in the implementation of the project. "We will conduct the bidding while the funds will initially come from the National Statistics Office."

An estimated P650 million will be initially used for the projects.

Cost Efficient

"The government will have to issue IDs anyway, so why not just issue one for all agencies?" Neri asked.

The cost, according to the SSS president, will be shared among the government agencies of which the person enrolling is a member.

"If the one enrolling in the system is an SSS member and a PhilHealth member, the cost will be divided between the two," Neri said.

An ID issued by the SSS costs about P220 each.

"If it is shared by SSS and PhilHealth, we wouldn't have to shell out P220. It will be P110 for each government agency," Neri said.

Other than that, Neri said that available government resources will be used for the Umid.

"We are now currently in talks with the Comelec for the use of their data capture machines. There are about 1,000 at present," Neri said.

National ID System

According to the SSS president, the Umid is different from that of the national ID system in the sense that it will not be compulsory upon anyone to enroll in the said system.

"It will not be compulsory for everyone, and this ID is for transactions for the government agencies," Neri said. "And we conformed to the guidelines of the Supreme Court."

Neri said only the four fingerprints (2 index, 2 thumbs), photo, address, signature, date of birth, gender, civil status, and parents' name will be the only data gathered.

During the press conference last Friday at the Ramon Magsaysay Hall of the SSS central office in Quezon City, Neri was clearly exasperated over the insistence of some members of the media that the Umid was no different from the national ID system, which the Supreme Court has already rendered unconstitutional.