Arroyo Gov’t Pushing ID System Amid Snowballing Opposition

Interior and Local Government Secretary Angelo Reyes proposed the establishment of a national ID system in the wake of the so-called Valentine’s Day bombings in three major cities: Makati, Davao, and General Santos. The proposal to establish a national ID system comes at a time when the Macapagal-Arroyo administration is facing a confluence of opposition based on various issues.

BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
Bulatlat

Malacañang is showing no signs of buckling down to opposition to the proposed national identification (ID) system. The opposition ranges from human rights organizations and other cause-oriented groups to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s own allies in Congress.

The national ID system is being resurrected at a time when the Macapagal-Arroyo administration is facing challenges from various quarters based on several policy issues.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Angelo Reyes proposed the establishment of a national ID system in the wake of the so-called Valentine’s Day bombings in three major

cities: Makati in Metro Manila and Davao, and General Santos in southern Philippines.

The bombings took place at the height of the renewed conflict between government troops and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in Sulu, the Philippines’ southernmost province.

Though MNLF leader Ustadz Habier Malik has issued statements attributing the outbreak of the present fighting to the Feb. 1 massacre of a family in Maimbong, Sulu, the government projects the conflict as a fight against the Abu Sayyaf which it alleges as having tied up with the MNLF.

Relatedly, Dr. Abdulrakman Amin, MNLF liaison to the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), has recently issued a statement categorically denying any alleged MNLF links with the Abu Sayyaf, and condemning to group for what he described as its “criminal” activities.

According to Reyes, the national ID system would help in fighting terrorism.

“These terrorists, they thrive on anonymity,” Reyes told a news conference Feb. 18 in Camp Crame, the Philippine National Police (PNP) general headquarters. “With a national ID system, you cannot claim to be somebody else because there will be one number for each person.”

Not new

The idea of a national ID system is not new. It was first proposed in 1996, when then President Fidel V. Ramos issued Administrative Order No. 308 providing for the adoption of a National Computerized Identification Reference System. The system was proposed supposedly to facilitate government transactions.

In 1997, then Sen. Blas Ople contested A0 308 before the Supreme Court (SC), saying it was unconstitutional.

A year later, the SC upheld Ople’s contention. “Given the record-keeping power of the computer, only the indifferent will fail to perceive the danger that A.O. No. 308 gives the government the power to compile a devastating dossier against unsuspecting citizens,” read the SC decision.

Presently pending in Congress is Senate Bill No. 833, filed by Sen. Panfilo Lacson, which provides for the establishment of a national reference card system that will supposedly facilitate government transactions. Lacson is a former national police chief.

Under the Lacson bill, all citizens are assigned a reference number upon birth and issued a National Reference Card free of charge at age 18.

Lacson is much detested by human rights groups for his record as a police officer under the martial-law regime. The book Closer Than Brothers, by military historian Alfred McCoy, lists Lacson as one of the leading torturers of activists ands suspected rebels during the martial-law period.

The other proponents of a national ID system are Sens. Edgardo Angara, Alfredo Lim, and Juan Ponce Enrile.

Opponents

Meanwhile, among the most vocal opponents of a national ID system is Joel Maglunsod, secretary-general of the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU or May First Movement).

“This measure will be used to monitor citizens and groups opposing the Macapagal-Arroyo administration’s anti-people policies,” Maglunsod said of the proposed measure during a Feb. 21 protest action in front of the DILG office. “Wanton violation of civil, political and human rights will take place if the ID system will be approved.”

The Macapagal-Arroyo administration has been criticized for red-baiting against groups critical of its policies and practices. Malacañang has, at various instances, tagged legal cause-oriented groups – including the election watchdog Patriots – as “communist fronts.”

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), together with its armed component the New People’s Army (NPA) and its founding chairman Jose Maria Sison, are included in the U.S. Department of State’s list of “terrorist” organizations.

The national ID system has its opponents even among Macapagal-Arroyo’s allies.

Among the more notable ones are Sens. Francis Pangilinan and Joker Arroyo.

Pangilinan said that the government could use the national ID system to harass civilians. He also said that the 1998 SC decision on the 1997 petition filed by Ople had rendered a national ID system unconstitutional.

Arroyo, for his part, fears that a national ID system would lead to a violation of civil liberties. “Today more taxes, tomorrow less liberties, what next? That is what happens when the president has an unthinking, unfeeling support staff,” Arroyo was quoted Feb. 19 as saying by ABS-CBNNews.com.

Timing

The proposal to establish a national ID system comes at a time when the Macapagal-Arroyo administration is facing a confluence of opposition based on various issues.

The results of a recent survey by the socio-economic think tank IBON Foundation showed 74.11 of the respondents opposed to an increase in the value-added tax (VAT) rate from 10 to 12 percent. Even such groups as the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (AmCham Philippines) have calculated that a VAT rate hike would adversely affect the low-income sectors of the Philippine population.

The broad opposition to a VAT rate increase showed its face during a protest action near the Senate Feb. 16, in which Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan or New Patriotic Alliance), bangon Pilipinas (Philippines Arise) National Renewal Movement, Sanlakas, Partido ng Manggagawa (PM or Worker’s Party), People’s Movement Against Poverty (PMAP), People’s Congress for Authentic Democracy (PCAD), and mainstream opposition politicians took part.

Malacañang is also facing snowballing broad protests against the reversal of the SC decision declaring the Mining Act of the Philippines as unconstitutional, as well as mounting calls for a peaceful resolution of the present Sulu conflict. Bulatlat