BATASAN COMPLEX, Quezon City — Responding to concerns over the prevalent abuse of the discount system for persons-with-disabilities (PWDs) through the use of 'fake' identification cards, an ID with a standard design will eventually replace the current PWD IDs, which have different designs and are prone to counterfeiting.

This was announced by Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) assistant secretary Irene Dumlao, who said they plan to roll out the unified PWD ID by the end of the current year.

The move to unify the PWD ID was prompted by complaints from restaurant owners expressing alarm over what they described as a surge in fake PWD IDs and one of their proposals was for the government to create an ID with just one design.

Until June 2025, the DSWD will be conducting pilot testing for the unified ID, which will have physical and digital versions and will be RFID-enabled, or with Radio Frequency Identification technology and the cardholder’s biometrics data captured.

Dumlao said that the DSWD is now coordinating with the National Privacy Commission (NPC) and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to ensure collected information would be safeguarded.

Application for the unified PWD ID would still be done through a local government unit (LGU)’s Persons with Disability Affairs Office or PDAO, which would then encode the person’s data into an online system in real time. The DSWD would then issue the ID, to be picked up at the local PDAO.

Dumlao added that establishments, such as restaurants, would be able to access the online system.
“Ito kasi iyong worry nila . . . kung verified ba ito. Dati ang ginagawa nila is tatawag pa sa LGU . . . (But) with the unified ID system, makikita na po nila kung iyong iprinesenta na person with disability ID ay the same doon sa lalabas doon sa system,” Dumlao disclosed.