December 5, 2024 | 12:58pm
MANILA, Philippines — Half a million persons with disabilities (PWDs) could not avail of their health benefits and other privileges last year due to technical issues in the government’s digital registry system, according to the Commission on Audit’s annual report on the National Council on Disability Affairs released Monday, December 1.
The audit report found that 504,193 PWDs — representing 33% of all registered PWDs in the country — have not been included in the Philippine Registry for Persons with Disabilities database due to local government units’ persistent problems in data migration.
The Philippine Registry for Persons with Disabilities serves as the Department of Health’s central database for PWD information nationwide. It is also used to verify PWDs’ PhilHealth claims and by other specific agencies (Department of Social Welfare and Development and Department of Interior and Local Government) for planning PWD programs.
State auditors identified several technical hurdles in migrating PWD data to the central registry: several municipalities lacking basic computer equipment, an overwhelmed central database system that cannot handle mass uploads, and inconsistent PWD ID number formats across LGUs.
State auditors said that the national registry — a web-based system — “could not handle large volumes of data from various LGUs being uploaded.”
“The simultaneous uploading of data of the LGUs causes traffic in the website, thus resulted to failure or delay in the process,” the audit report stated.
These lapses “prevented PWDs from fully accessing the benefits, most importantly potential health benefits, they are entitled to,” COA said in its 2023 audit of the disability council.
COA added that since data in the central registry is “reflected into the NCDA as a backup data,” information in the registry should be accurate “so that the Council could make it more useful in the formulation of appropriate decisions in addressing the concerns of PWDs.”
NCDA attempted to address these issues by distributing 1,000 computers to local governments in 2022, followed by an additional 500 units in 2023. However, COA found that only 96 of the newer computers in 2023 have reached their intended recipients.
The number of PWD IDs issued by local governments increased from 1.19 million in 2022 to 1.55 million in 2023. Despite this, problems with migrating data persisted.
COA recommended four actions to address these issues: fast-track the distribution of remaining computers to LGUs, enforce standard PWD ID number formats, improve coordination between LGUs and DOH, and upgrade the central registry to allow it to process large volumes of data.
The PWD ID system operates under Republic Act 9442 of the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons.
The law mandates special privileges and benefits for PWDs, including discounts on medical supplies, essential goods, and transportation. The ID card serves as PWDs’ primary proof of identity to access these benefits.
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