MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) has directed concerned police units to intensify intelligence-gathering and monitoring against the proliferation of fake identification cards for persons with disabilities (PWDs).
This is in response to the concern raised by the Department of Justice (DOJ) about the significant gap between the number of registered PWDs and the number of people using PWD IDs to avail themselves of benefits and privileges granted under the law.
According to the DOJ, only 2.8 million individuals are registered as PWDs, while approximately 8.5 million people are using PWD IDs, resulting in a discrepancy of about 5.7 million.
PGen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr., PNP chief, said expects police units, especially the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and the Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) to look into the matter, especially in identifying groups and individuals in illegal production and distribution fake PWD IDs.
“These fraudulent schemes disrupt legitimate transactions and undermine the public's trust in government services designated for our persons with disabilities,” PGEN Nartatez said.
“We are strengthening our collaboration with concerned agencies to track individuals or groups involved in the proliferation of fake IDs, especially those who manufacture and distribute them,” he added.
Nartatez warned that individuals involved in distributing or using fake PWD IDs could face penalties under Philippine laws. He said those found using fraudulent PWD IDs could be charged with falsification of public documents and estafa, depending on the circumstances of their cases.
“There are existing laws that will sanction individuals or groups behind this scheme, including those using these fake PWD IDs at the expense of legitimate beneficiaries,” Nartatez said.
The PNP Chief urged the public to report any information about the scheme to authorities.
