By Journal Online

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Topics discussed in the Thursday (October 9) Media Forum focused on the status of the pilot implementation of the unified identification (ID) system for persons with disabilities and the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) ongoing disaster response efforts for families affected by the September 30 magnitude 6.9 earthquake in Cebu province and the four typhoons that successively hit the country recently.

Asst. Secretary for Information and Communications Technology and Chief Information Officer (CIO) Johannes Paulus Acuña reported that the unified ID system has received positive net satisfaction rating from the 35 pilot local government units (LGUs) implementing the system.

Director Maria Isabel Lanada of the Disaster Response Management Bureau (DRMB) told reporters that the DSWD is approaching the 2nd wave of relief operations in Northern Cebu and has an ongoing emergency cash transfer (ECT) distribution in localities affected by recent typhoons.

The DSWD Thursday Media Forum is hosted by Special Assistant to the Secretary (SAS) for Strategic Communications Raymond Robert Burgos and Director Dianne Joie Ruiz of the Digital Media Service (DMS). It is aired over the DSWD Facebook page. (AKDL)

DSWD’s unified ID system for persons with disabilities for scale up mid-October

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and its attached agency, the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA), are now gearing up for the nationwide scale up of the persons with disabilities’ unified identification (ID) system this October.

“Yung scale up po will commence by October 13, and these include all LGUs (local government units) within the Philippines. So, starting October 13 po.” Asst. Secretary for Information and Communications Technology and Chief Information Officer (CIO) Johannes Paulus Acuña told reporters at the DSWD Thursday (October 9) Media Forum at the Central Office’s New Press Center in Quezon City.

Asst. Secretary Acuña, who is also the DSWD’s Chief Information Officer (CIO), said the unified ID system received good feedback from participating persons with disabilities during the pre-pilot and pilot implementation of the system.

During the pre-pilot implementation from August 11 to September 12 in the Cities of Manila, Muntinlupa, and Pasay; San Miguel, Bulacan; and Sta. Rosa, Laguna, the DSWD CIO mentioned the efficiency of the system based on the turnaround time to complete the registration process.

“Maganda po yung naging feedback coming from the experience from the registration. From what we observed during the pre-pilot around 7 to 10 minutes yung turnaround time for persons with disabilities to get registered,” Asst. Secretary Acuña told reporters.

For the conduct of the pilot implementation with the selected 35 LGUs, Asst. Secretary Acuña said they were able to receive a positive net satisfaction rating of 4.6 out of 5 from participating Persons with Disability Affairs Offices (PDAO) during an orientation on September 10 to 12.

As of press time, some 56 LGU users from the pilot areas were already registered in the unified ID system. The users were able to encode 311 persons with disabilities ID data in the system, of which 256 were already approved, while 55 applications are still under review by concerned PDAOs.

For the next steps, Asst. Secretary Acuña highlighted that the NCDA is currently conducting a series of orientations with the new batch of LGUs regarding the unified online system. The DSWD’s attached agency will also issue guidelines and transition plans regarding the next steps for the systems in the coming months.

The DSWD is also working with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to ensure that the persons with disabilities’ unified ID system will be included in the eGovPH App.

“We are improving the system based on user feedback and we are finalizing the design of the ID with the NCDA. In fact, we are also coordinating with the DICT at the moment para mailabas yung digital ID sa eGov app in a months’ time,” the DSWD CIO pointed out.

Among the security features of the unified ID system is a digital ID that can be accessible via mobile app or web portal. The digital ID has a QR code that can be scanned by business establishments for quick verification.

The unified ID system for persons with disabilities is an initiative led by DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian to combat the proliferation of fake persons with disabilities ID in public. It is also aligned with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr’s agenda to promote more inclusive programs and policies for vulnerable sectors. (AKDL)