Secret National ID Order Stirs Public Uproar

An uproar is brewing against the executive order recently signed by President Macapagal-Arroyo authorizing the implementation of a national identification system. EO 420, signed last April 13, is being criticized for the “secrecy” in which it was signed, as well as over concerns that it will impinge on civil liberties.

BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
Bulatlat

An uproar is brewing against the executive order recently signed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo authorizing the implementation of a national identification system.

Malacañang had, two months before, expressed support for the national ID bills pending in the Senate and the House of Representatives – among them Senate Bill 833 by Sen. Panfilo Lacson, a staunch opponent of Macapagal-Arroyo. A national ID system would help in the country’s fight against “terrorism,” according to Malacañang, as it would make it easy for law-enforcement agencies to track down suspected “terrorists.”

Executive Order (EO) No. 420, reportedly signed by Macapagal-Arroyo on April 13 and set to take effect in June, mandates all state agencies and government-owned and -controlled corporations to synchronize their reference systems. According to Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, a retired general, the system would “facilitate transactions with government.”

Under EO 420, the synchronized ID would contain the following information on the holder: name, home address, sex, picture, signature, date of birth, place of birth, marital status, names of parents, height, weight, marks of two index fingers and two thumbs, any prominent distinguishing features such as moles and others, tax identification number or TIN, ID number issued by the concerned agency, and reference number unique to the holder.

In an e-mail to Bulatlat, Engr. Ramon Ramirez of Agham (Association of Science andf Technology Advocates for the People) commented on the national ID database thus: “I don't how why it is important for the government to know the names of your parents, or items 10 to 13, for you to transact business with them. But definitely all items 1-13 are needed to identify you as one unique person and no other.”

One of the very first issues raised against the executive order was what was described as the “secrecy” that surrounded its signing.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita had told a news conference April 20 that Macapagal-Arroyo had indeed signed such an executive order. This was the first public mention of Macapagal-Arroyo having signed EO 420 – a full week after she was supposed to have signed it.

“Secret signing”

Reps. Liza Maza and Crispin Beltran of the Gabriela Women’s Party (GWP) and Anakpawis (Toiling Masses), respectively, assailed the “secret signing” of EO 420 in separate statements dated April 21.

But aside from the “secret signing” of the order, there is a more basic issue that has been raised against a national ID system: the concern that it would impinge on civil liberties.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye has been quick to come to the defense of EO 420.

“We are not fomenting a surveilled society,” Bunye told reporters April 21 in Jakarta, where Macapagal-Arroyo is currently on a working visit. He was apparently referring to statements by cause-oriented groups saying that a national ID system would be used to monitor the activities of persons deemed “terrorists.”

Legal organizations like the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan or New Patriotic Alliance), the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU or May First Movement), and even the socio-economic think tank IBON Foundation have been called “communist fronts.” Recently, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) obtained a copy of Knowing the Enemy, a PowerPoint presentation by the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) tagging it as an “enemy of the state” together with Bayan, the KMU and IBON Foundation – and even such groups as the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), and the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) headed by Cecille Guidote-Alvarez, wife of former Sen. Heherson Alvarez.

“Foreign terrorists”

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

As early as last February, Sens. Joker Arroyo and Francis Pangilinan – both administration senators – had opposed the national ID system. Pangilinan urged the government to strengthen the national police and the prosecution agencies.

Arroyo, on the other hand, told reporters: “Malacañang should leave alone the people's civil liberties. They are the only things left with them. Malacañang wants to tax the people more. Why? Because the government does not have money. Now it wants to invade the people's privacy. Why? As a defense against terrorism.

“In other words, whenever the Executive cannot cope with a problem, its standard excuse is the inadequacy of existing laws and so it passes the problem to Congress – more taxes in lieu of better tax collection and intrusion into the public's private lives in lieu of better police work of the uniformed services.”

In an April 21 statement, Bayan Muna (People First) Rep. Satur Ocampo said: “It will no less (than) set the stage and give rise to a police state where citizens are spied upon and their movements controlled. Such a policy is prone to abuse both by military and civilian authorities as it may be manipulated to harass, arbitrarily arrest, and detain political dissenters, oppositionists, and ordinary citizens.” Bulatlat

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