A national ID system would eliminate need for Comelec registration
Posted by butalidnl on 4 November 2009
We have heard about the long lines and long waiting times for those who want to register for the coming elections. It seems that the Comelec personnel are overstretched, and the people are becoming impatient with them.
But this does not need to happen. The long lines etc are there because of the system of getting an ID for everything we do. Thus, we line up for a Comelec ID, and before that, there was the GSIS/SSS ID, and other IDs – so much so, that a friend of mine was surprised that I didn’t have a spare ID photo with me, since this could be quite handy what with the various ID needs there are in the Philippines.
My experience here in the Netherlands is different. Whenever we move to a new city, we register with the Civil Registry. With this, we are able to get our national ID. During elections, we just get a paper that says where and when we should show up to vote. No lining up for an ID.
The national ID and registration is year round, and thus there is no rush to register at a given time. After all, the national ID is valid for 5 years. The national ID is also handy when one goes abroad, since it is accepted by other EU countries. Thus, it serves as a sort of passport for most of people’s travels. I have applied for a separate passport, though, because the Philippines does not accept our national ID as a valid travel document.
It may be a good idea to look into having a national ID system, if only to lessen our having to line up for all kinds of IDs.
