MORE ISSUES ON NATIONAL ID

Editorial by The Freeman | February 17, 2024

The Department of the Interior and Local Government has ordered all governors and city
and municipal mayors to prioritize the national ID and its electronic format on the list of
accepted identification documents.
“Republic Act 11055, otherwise known as the Philippine Identification System Act,
mandates the establishment of a single national identification system to register all
Filipinos and resident aliens in the Philippines,” said DILG Secretary Benhur Abalos.
This is ideal. The concept of the national ID was good in that it is meant to replace all
other IDs including passport, driver’s license, voter’s ID, among others in transactions.
So instead of bringing a bunch of different ID’s to transact with a local government unit
office you should only have to bring this one ID and everything will go smoothly.
Except for the fact that until now millions of people still haven’t seen hide nor hair of the
national ID they posed for years ago. Where are they?
Whoever is printing or distributing those ID’s needs to move fast as people grow older.
Considering how many years it has been and how people are wont to change their
appearance from time to time it’s likely some people won’t even recognize themselves in
those ID’s anymore.
The image of the owner is important because the ID lacks one crucial security feature;
the owner’s signature.
We were harping on this for quite a while; why does something as important as a one-for-
all ID lack this all-important identifying safeguard?
There’s another issue with the national ID’s; the Land Bank of the Philippines, one of the
banks that does frequent business with the government, still doesn’t recognize them,
according to Senator Sherwin Gatchalian.
We aren’t sure why this is the case, but we surmise it has to do with the lack of signature.
Again, while photos can be easily faked considering what technologies we have today,
one’s handwriting is more difficult to duplicate.
The government and the banks and LGU offices better get their act together. Those who
finally get their national ID’s after years of waiting may have waited for nothing if these
are still suspect when taken to some banks or offices.
COMPROMISED DATA
Editorial by The Freeman | February 16, 2024
The Department of Education is verifying reports that its information system has been
breached, with a hacker claiming to have harvested 750 gigabytes so far of DepEd data
including banking details and information on students and teachers. Meanwhile, the
Philippine Coast Guard took down yesterday its account on X, formerly Twitter, after its
tweets were wiped out. The PCG said the entity behind the “compromise” of the account
appeared linked to cryptocurrency trading. The PCG’s account on X was restored before
noon yesterday.
A collective of cybersecurity practitioners reported monitoring a post in the dark web by a
“threat actor” claiming it had collected data from one of the DepEd offices, for possible
“curated” dissemination. The claim is being verified by the Department of Information and
Communications Technology as well as the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating
Center. The DICT and CICC are also busy tracking down the source of bomb threats
received through email and text messages in the past days by several schools and
government agencies.
With the Marcos administration pushing a shift to e-governance, a parallel push is needed
to heighten cybersecurity. But top DICT officials have said finding experts to counter
threats in cyberspace is difficult, with the government unable to compete with salaries
offered in the private sector and overseas. The DICT should be providing assistance to
other government agencies in confronting digital threats, but the department itself lacks
personnel to handle cybersecurity matters.
The public has enough problems dealing with commercial and financial scams online.
Digital fraud is now facilitated by artificial intelligence and deepfakes, and the technology
open for use in criminal activities is rapidly evolving.
So much personal information is collected from the public by government agencies and
stored in digital format. It must be made clear to such agencies that their task is not just
to collect but also to protect data. The agencies, however, need help in this task, in terms
of funding, equipment and trained manpower. In the shift to e-governance, significant
investments are needed to safeguard the government’s information systems.
SAFER INTERNET FOR CHILDREN
Editorial by The Freeman | February 18, 2024
Apart from national security and the need to protect government information networks,
there is another reason to boost capabilities for fighting cyber threats: protecting children
from sexual predators.
This month is not just devoted to romance along with the observance of the start of Lent
on Ash Wednesday; child welfare advocates are also raising awareness on the prevention
of online sexual abuse and exploitation of children. OSAEC cases spiked during the
COVID lockdowns, as the country shifted to remote learning to keep formal education
going while preventing the spread of the coronavirus.
A survey on online child protection conducted by ECPAT Philippines in the first year of the
pandemic in 2020 showed that nearly 40 percent of child and youth responders connected
with strangers through social media. The survey by the non-government organization
advocating an end to child prostitution and trafficking also showed that about 30 percent
of the respondents received sexual materials through social media sites.
In 2018, a presidential proclamation declared the second Tuesday of February every year
as Safer Internet Day for Children. The day, which fell on Feb. 13 this year, was marked
with the theme: “Inspiring change? Making a difference, managing influence, and
navigating change online.” The day falls within the second week of the month, which was
declared in 1996 as National Awareness Week for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse
and Exploitation.
It’s a daunting challenge. Not only because rapidly evolving technology facilitates
OSAEC, with those fighting the exploitation barely able to keep up, but also because
many children are pushed into online sexual exploitation by their own parents or
guardians. Poverty also drives some older youths to willingly open themselves to OSAEC.
With the pandemic lockdowns prompting the shift to remote or hybrid learning, the use of
gadgets such as cell phones and computers became a necessity for millions of children.
Many of the children, along with their parents, lacked information about cyber threats.
Parents and even teachers fell for online financial scams, and were vulnerable to
disinformation and misinformation. Children, meanwhile, suffered online bullying and
OSAEC.
Pandemic restrictions have been lifted, but children’s digital engagement is irreversible.
More resources are needed so that authorities can carry out the difficult task of making
cyberspace safer for children.
ACTIVITY 3: EXPLICIT AND IMPLICIT CLAIMS IN A WRITTEN TEXT
A. After reading, identify and write down three claims you found in the article. Claims
should be specific statements that the author is trying to support with evidence.
CLAIM #1: _______________________________________________________
a. Do you think this claim is well-supported? Why or why not?
b. What evidence in the article supports this claim?

CLAIM #2: _______________________________________________________

a. Do you think this claim is well-supported? Why or why not?
b. What evidence in the article supports this claim?

CLAIM #3: _______________________________________________________

a. Do you think this claim is well-supported? Why or why not?
b. What evidence in the article supports this claim?

B. How recognizing claims can help you better understand and evaluate the arguments
presented in the article?

NOTE: CHOOSE ONE ARTICLE ONLY