MAJORITY of Filipinos have expressed support to the creation of a national identification card (ID) system, according to a latest survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).
The poll, conducted from June 27 to 30, revealed that 73 percent of Filipinos approved, while only 18 percent disapproved the single ID that would replace the different identification cards being used by Filipinos.
Nine percent did not know enough to give an opinion, the SWS noted.
The survey results yielded a net approval score of "extremely strong" +55.
An "extremely strong" support for the national ID system was observed in Metro Manila (+60), Balance Luzon (+58), and Visayas (+53). In Mindanao, the SWS recorded a net approval score of "very strong" +48.
The SWS released the survey after President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday, August 6, signed into law a measure establishing the Philippine Identification System.
Republic Act 11055, otherwise known as the Philippine Identification System Act, seeks to create a single national ID system for all Filipino citizens and Philippine resident aliens to simplify public and private transactions.
The new law seeks to eliminate the need to present other forms of identification when transacting with government and the private sector, subject to appropriate authentication measures based on a biometric identification system.
The Philippine Identification System, or the PhilSys intends to promote seamless service delivery, improve administrative governance, reduce corruption, strenghten financial inclusion, and promote ease of doing business.
The SWS revealed that the national ID system will be a "very big" help for 32 percent of Filipinos, "big" help for 28 percent, "moderate" help for 26 percent, and "little" help for eight percent.
The remaining five percent, however, believed that the PhilSys will be of "almost no help" at all.
The highest number of Filipinos who believed the new law will be helpful came from Metro Manila (67 percent), followed by Balance Luzon (61 percent), Mindanao (57 percent), and Visayas (57 percent).
Sixty-one percent agreed that the government can protect private information contained in the national ID, while eight percent disagreed, the SWS said. Thirty percent were ambivalent on the matter.
This resulted in a net agreement score of "extremely strong" +53.
Net agreement was "extremely strong" in all areas -- Mindanao (+59), Visayas (+53), Balance Luzon (+52), and Metro Manila (+50).
The SWS further found that 49 percent have "much trust," while 13 percent have "little trust" that the government will not use the PhilSys against the opposition, giving a net trust score of "good" +36.
The poll showed that the net trust that the national ID will not be used as a tool against critical parties was highest in Mindanao ("good" +41), followed by Balance Luzon ("good" +37), Visayas ("good" +31), and Metro Manila ("moderate" +28).
In a weekly economic briefing, National Statistician Lisa Grace Bersales allayed public's fears of possible data breach and privacy violations, following the signing of the the Philippine Identification System Act.
Bersales said the government was mulling to heed the recommendation of the National Privacy Commission (NPC) to seek privacy impact assessment to ensure public data privacy.
"We also are very careful about questions on security and confidentiality. So with the advice of the NPC, we plan to have a privacy impact assessment of our national ID system, which should be done by a third party," she said.
"This is just to assure everyone that PSA has already instituted proper rules, guidelines, both technical and processes, to ensure privacy of our citizens and those [who] are in our database," she added.
She also guaranteed that the government would merely collect "very basic" information of the Filipino people and resident aliens of the country.
She said the basic information, which will be taken through 11 demographic questions that will be asked to the national ID users, are "the only ones that will be in the PhilSys' data base."
"The PhilSys is very simple, it will only answer who are you and are you who you really say you are. That's all. So its primary objective is to provide identity to citizens and resident aliens in the Philippines, and for those [whom] they will transact with to be able to authenticate their identity," Bersales said.
"It will provide facility for connectivity of different databases that will also be autonomous [and] will help our citizens of doing business with government and eventually with private sector.
The SWS interviewed 1,200 adult Filipinos nationwide, using sampling error margins of ±3 percentage points for national percentages, and ±6 percentage points each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. (SunStar Philippines)