In the City Council budget hearings last Monday, a P30-million item in the proposed budget for the Department of Social Welfare Services (DSWS) was questioned by councilors.
That item in the proposed 2015 budget is for the Cebu Citizen Card project. Not much is known about this project by the city government of Cebu. Mayor Michael Rama had talked about it in a senior citizen’s gathering last month.
Then in last Monday’s budget hearing, DSWS head Ester Concha, under questioning from Councilor Sisinio Andales said the Cebu Citizen Card project is an ID system that would use the RFID technology.
In this ‘instant’ generation, where everything can be accessed with the flick of a finger, an ID card implanted with a high tech chip would be attractive. But wait. Although Concha was unable to explain what an RFID device is or how RFID works in the planned citizen’s ID system for Cebu, the mere mention of the technology is cause for alarm.
The last time RFID was discussed publicly was when the Land Transportation Office (LTO) rolled out an e-tagging scheme for vehicles in 2009. In this project, motor vehicle owners will be required to buy an RFID sticker and implant it on their vehicle. The purpose of this scheme is to electronically tag vehicles so that these can be easily tracked. The LTO then justified the project as a measure against car theft and even monitor illegally operating passenger vehicles.
The RFID project of the LTO was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2010 after several groups questioned its legality. Among the issues raised was the issue of privacy.
With the plan of Rama’s City Hall to use the RFID technology in its planned ID system, we ask, why is there a need to electronically tag its citizens?
RFID is a computer chip that contains data and an antenna. Compared to other technologies like the bar code where the device has to be swiped to a scanner to retrieve or read data, an RFID enabled device can be read remotely. RFID stands for radio frequency identification. Meaning, a person who has an RFID reader can access one’s personal data encrypted in an RFID enabled device.
Compounding matters is that the City Hall manager sent to defend the budget that included this intrusive ID system had no idea what the system is all about. This raises another doubt that some people may be whispering something that the rulers of City Hall may be clueless about. This does not bode well for the Rama administration and it’s dangerous to the city’s taxpaying citizenry.
It was a good thing the City Council last Monday raised the red flag on this P30-million item in the budget, among others. But deferring action on this dangerous project is not enough, it should be stricken out of the proposed 2015 budget.
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