National ID must be reliable, trustworthy –Pimentel

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III on Saturday called on the agencies involved in the issuance of the national identification card to keep the IDs "reliable and trustworthy."

“Dapat yan maging reliable and trustworthy ID para kung yan ang ilalabas mo di ka na masyadong tatanungin at marami pang busisi, some ang delivered, some are self printed, iba iba itsura ng national ID hihina ang tiwala,” Pimentel said in a radio interview.

(That needs to be a reliable and trustworthy ID. So when you use it, there won't be too many questions or too much scrutiny. If some are delivered, some are self-printed, and all the national IDs don't look the same, it undermines the trust.)

The senator noted that on Tuesday, May 3, he had sought a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee investigation into the "long-delayed" issuance of the national IDs.

“Kaya ko na-file yan kasi nga matagal nang reklamo ang delayed, ‘di lang sa delayed maraming umaabot sa akin merong maling information, smudging, nabubura ang tinta, ‘di klaro ang litrato, di tinatanggap ng financial institution, walang signature. May balita pa na print your own. Ibibigay ang file ikaw ang magprint,” he said.

(I filed that because there have been numerous complaints about the delay. And not just the delay. I've been told that some of the information is wrong, there's smudging, the print can be erased, the picture is blurry, financial institutions don't accept them, and there's no signature. There are rumors you can print your ID. The file is given and you print it.)

“Bakit tayo nauwi sa ganyan ang budget P15-20 billion kaya gusto kong malaman ano ang ending nyan. More than P20 billion yan and yet ito ang naririnig nating feedback, i-hearing sa blue ribbon kung walang criminal negligence so be it. Pero ang pakiramdam natin marami nang problema baka meron nang criminal negligence,” he stressed.

(Why did this happen? There's a P15-P20 billion budget for this. That's why I want to know how all this will be resolved. It's more than P20 billion, and yet this is the feedback. There needs to be a Blue Ribbon hearing. If there's no criminal negligence, so be it. But I have a feeling there are a lot of problems, maybe there is criminal negligence.)

Pimentel said the Senate had invited the Commission on Audit. They would also review the COA findings over the years to see the main problem behind this matter.

“Because ‘yung delivery 40% ‘yun ang delivery, ‘yung delivered, reklamo ang natanggap. Sana i-welcome ng agencies involved like PSA, BSP, NEDA yung mother agency sila ang supervisor sana iwelcome nila ang hearing para mapaliwanag na nila once and for all, ‘di sa budget hearing kundi focused lang,” he added.

(Because 40% of the IDs have been delivered. The complaints were about receiving them. I hope the agencies involved, like the PSA, BSP, and NEDA are the mother agencies, the supervisors. I hope they welcome the hearing so they can explain, once and for all. Not during budget hearings, but during a focused hearing.)

Under Senate Resolution 585, Pimentel seeks to identify accountability for malfeasance, misfeasance, or nonfeasance, if any, on the part of the leadership in the Philippine Statistics Authority, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, and other agencies involved in the issuance of the national IDs. — DVM, GMA Integrated News