THE Cebu City’s Management Information and Computer Services (Mics) will need around P50 million for the integration of the City’s databases.
These include the integration of data for senior citizens, persons with disabilities, transactions with the Office of the Building Official, tax payments, and other services of the City Hall.
In an executive session on Thursday, June 6, 2024, Mics officer-in-charge Dante Arcilla said the integration of the database for the person-with-disability identification cards would cost less than P50 million.
The alleged involved persons in the PWD ID scam were also invited during the session, but according to Cebu City Councilor James Anthony Cuenco, everyone denied their involvement.
It was Cuenco who exposed the sale of PWD IDs for about P2,000 to P4,000 when he talked with an able-bodied individual who had obtained a PWD card.
Regarding the involved persons, Cuenco said they now have complainants who have already filed an affidavit against them.
In a privileged speech delivered on Wednesday, June 5, Cuenco resolved to invite Cerj Germudo, John Tolentino, and Jay-R Cam, all from the office of the mayor, and JJ Laurel, formerly from the DSWS and now assigned to the Road Management Authority, to another executive session to shed light on the scheme.
Arcilla said they can correct the QR codes by providing a validation link to the city’s database.
He also said the problem is not in the identification card but in the process flow.
“The problem is not in the ID per se. There’s also the process. For Step 1, there are a lot of documents that go through the evaluator before it goes to recording, assigning the ID number, and then it goes to the database. So, it’s a human interface,” Arcilla said.
He said they are now in the process of integrating their databases, which could be done in three months once approved.
He added that they are eyeing to have an application that could be downloaded on cellular phones, where all authentications and securities could be put there.
“Whenever your status as a citizen in Cebu City would change, it would automatically update there,” Arcilla said.
Arcilla said they could also provide a holographic sticker on the IDs where they update the data without updating the ID itself.
He said the new system could be applied to everyone, not just PWDs.
In an interview on Thursday, June 6, Department of Social Welfare Services (DSWS) officer-in-chargem, Portia Basmayor said the original PWD IDs already have QR Codes, but the fake IDs, though with QR codes, do not match what is registered in the system.
Basmayor said they have confiscated at least seven IDs from non-eligible PWD card holders.
Basmayor also said that it would be better if there were updates in the system to avoid abuse, such as providing IDs to non-eligible persons.
According to DSWS data, 26,159 PWDs in the city have been issued IDs. Most of these individuals have orthopedic disorders (6,477 PWDs) or chronic illnesses (6,355 PWDs).
However, Basmayor clarified that only 14,174 of these PWDs qualify for financial assistance from the City Government.
Basmayor said the remaining 11,000 plus are those registered voters in Cebu City from 2014 up to the present.
Meanwhile, Cuenco, the one who called for the executive session, said he was not satisfied with what transpired during the session.
“To tell you the truth, I am very disappointed because wa jud nato, wa man jud sila mo tug-an,” Cuenco said. / AML