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Saturday, February 19, 2005
Arroyo pushes national ID system plan
MANILA -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo batted Friday for tougher laws against terrorism that includes the implementation of a national identification (ID) system but left Congress to debate on the issue of wiretapping.
The Supreme Court (SC) thumbed down the plan to have a national ID system when it was first brought up during the term of President Fidel Ramos.
"We need tougher laws to defeat terror and defeat poverty. We must strengthen both perimeters of our political and economic security," Arroyo said.
She said the fight against terrorism must be as vigorous as the fight against corruption and poverty because "poverty breeds the recruits of evil".
Arroyo said she is pushing for a law that would institute the national ID system, which is "one of the key elements of the anti-terrorism or internal security bills that are now in Congress."
She said government is working for a law to implement the ID system nationwide, or at least an ordinance to enforce it at first at the local level.
The Supreme Court earlier rejected the move of the Ramos administration to implement the ID system nationwide based only on an administrative order. The High Court ruled that such a move would require the enactment of a law by Congress.
However, Arroyo tossed to lawmakers the controversial issue of using wiretapping as a tool for intelligence although she admitted that "it's important".
"Let's have that go through the debate in Congress but it's important. We're one of the few countries that still don't have an anti-terrorism or internal security law," she said.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, also Arroyo's spokesman, said: "Napapanahon lamang na tayo ay magpasa ng ating version ng anti-terrorism law lalong-lalo na dito sa mga dumaraming insidente ng terorismo (It is time that we pass our version of an anti-terrorism law, especially with the rising incidents of terrorism)."
Bunye said anti-terrorism laws of the US, Spain and some European countries and Asian countries like Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand have been found effective in those countries.
Bunye also said a national ID system would "simplify a lot of things" considering that IDs are needed for transactions.
He said he does not see any threat or intrusion of such system on the lives of private citizens as long as they remain law-abiding. "(If) they are not hiding anything, they have nothing to be worried about," he said.
He said government will be able to fund the ID system once the law is passed. "If there's a will, there's a way. We have to find the funding for that," he added.
He said there is now a "more urgent" need for an ID system considering the circumstances. "Perhaps it's a matter of timing. Now it's probably more urgent to review this various proposals which are pending before Congress," he also said.
At the Senate, President Franklin Drilon said there is no need to enact a law to create a national ID system because an executive order is the best means to implement it.
Likewise, he proposed that the government should enforce a uniform identification card using the database of the Social Security System (SSS).
"I'm in favor of the ID system for our citizens but we don't need to pass a law because an executive order will do," he added.
He further suggested that the SSS, Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), driver's license and voter's IDs could be consolidated into single ID that could be used in any transactions.
Another senator, Ramon Magsaysay Jr., said there is no need to spend money for the ID system since the existing cards could be used.
"I maintain that the use of existing personal IDs of our citizens in helping our national and local governments strengthen our crime prevention system, and not a new national and uniform ID, is sufficient for the purpose," he said in a separate interview.
On the other hand, Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan and Senator Joker Arroyo opposed the ID system.
Pangilinan said its existence might open the floodgates for possible human rights abuses.
He said the SC already declared apprehensions over the establishment of a national ID system and said it is unconstitutional.
"Using the same SC decision as the basis, I believe that there is still no compelling state interest to justify the national ID system and that the current proposal is not narrowly drawn. Even for the sake of argument that there is a compelling interest, the proposal is too general and too vague," Pangilinan said.
Senator Arroyo, for his part, said the system would not be a good defense against terrorism. Instead, it would invade people's privacy.
"The SC had once touched on the potential unconstitutionality of the ID system. Why bring them up again?" Arroyo added. (RB/JPM)
(February 19, 2005 issue)
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