WORKERS UP IN ARMS AGAINST UNIFIED MULTI-PURPOSE ID IMPLEMENTATION

Submitted by courage_phil on Sun, 03/14/2010 - 09:38.

QUEZON CITY- Workers from both private and
public are outraged over the implementation of the Unified Multi-Purpose ID
(UMID) which will initially be adopted by the Government Service Insurance
System (GSIS), Social Security System (SSS), Philippine Health Insurance
Corporation (PhilHealth) and the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG) this
March.

 

At the mKapihan sa Cypress today, the leaders
of ProFund (Protect our Fund), an alliance of public and private sector
workers, migrant workers, women workers and members of other pension and surety
funds insisted that the UMID is one of the midnight deals that the Arroyo
government has long crafted in preparation for the 2010 elections.

 

COURAGE National President Ferdinand Gaite
stressed that the Arroyo government failed to show ‘delicadeza’ in its recent
transactions, provoking the public to think that it plans to cling to power
even after her term ends in June. He added that the recent midnight appointments
and deals that the Arroyo administration has entered into are concrete
indicators that Mrs. Arroyo and her allies are doing every means to prop their
campaign coffers and are ensuring that their grand plan to hijack the next
elections will be executed. “Given the corruption-tainted reputation of the
incumbent regime, you cannot blame us if we perceive the UMID as Mrs. Arroyo’s
another money-making venture wherein profits will be utilized to obtain
political favors or directly finance her congressional bid,” he said.

 

Meanwhile, Gaite warned against UMID’s
implications on the people’s right to privacy. “We fear that not only this
multi-million project will be another campaign kitty for the Arroyo
administration but also an avenue to skirt around the unconstitutionality of
the National ID System which was already rejected by the Supreme Court during
the Ramos’ regime. This could be the initial phase of the the National ID
System, considering that the membership of the four workers’ fund totals to almost
50 million.”

 

The militant workers’ groups also doubted the
promised results of the UMID. According to them, efficient and better services
from the GSIS, SSS, Pag-Ibig and Philhealth can be better felt by the fund
owners through increased dividends and benefits rather than a mere ID
replacement. “Although the government presents the project as simple and
necessary, we deem that this will bring more problems than solutions. It is
expensive, impractical and shall subject the people to surveillances and other
forms of politcal harassment,” they summarized.

 

PROFUND announced their plans against the
UMID implementation including the filing of a resolution to conduct an
investigation on the possible fund diversion. Anakpawis Representative Joel
Maglunsod assured Profund to take up their concern in Congress. COURAGE is set
to hold a rally coinciding with the launching of the UMID on March 15 at the
GSIS Main office. #