DSWD to issue PWD IDs under revised rules to curb systemic fraud

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will soon be authorized to issue Person with Disability (PWD) identification cards under proposed amendments to the implementing rules of the PWD Discounts Law, part of a broader government effort to crack down on rampant ID fraud.

DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian announced Wednesday that the revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) will be signed within two weeks by the DSWD, the Department of Finance (DOF), and the Department of Health (DOH).

Gatchalian disclosed the incoming changes during a Senate Subcommittee on Finance hearing on the agency’s proposed 2027 budget, responding to alarm raised by Senator Raffy Tulfo over the scale of falsified credentials nationwide.

“These are the current and very alarming facts — out of 8 million IDs issued, 6 million are fake PWDs based on a DOJ report. Only 2 million IDs are legitimate and registered with the NCDA,” Tulfo said, referencing findings from the Department of Justice and the National Council on Disability Affairs.

“This modus has resulted in P88 billion in lost tax revenues for the government, and translates to P166 billion in revenue losses for business establishments, especially restaurants,” Tulfo added.

Under current rules, PWD ID issuance is handled exclusively by local government units (LGUs) following the devolution of functions, leaving the DSWD with no direct oversight. Gatchalian noted that the amended IRR will give the national agency a central role in stemming the abuse.

He outlined three main channels through which fraudulent IDs are generated: medical certifications issued without proper safeguards, LGU personnel approving incomplete applications, and fake IDs produced and sold in areas like Recto, Manila.

To close these loopholes, Gatchalian said the DSWD coordinated with the DOH, which issued an administrative order restricting certification authority to designated medical professionals. The agency is also working with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to investigate individuals bypassing requirements through contacts within local Persons with Disability Affairs Offices (PDAOs).

In tandem with the rule changes, the government is pushing a unified digital PWD ID system featuring QR code verification linked to a central database.

“It’s a digital ID. You get a QR code, and when the establishment scans it, they’ll know if it’s real because the person is in the database,” Gatchalian explained. “Establishments just need to scan it. No new requirements — their cellphones will do.”

Because millions of paper IDs remain in circulation, Gatchalian said the DSWD met with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to explore updating revenue regulations to incentivize merchants to adopt digital verification.

“We met with the BIR to try to amend the revenue regulations to encourage merchants to use our ID system. It’s hard to recall manual IDs already out there, so what will be their incentive? We assured them that by using this system, they can immediately verify whether an ID is legitimate since it’s backed by a central database,” Gatchalian said.