NCR COVID-19 Survey 2: ~87% support immediate roll-out of National ID

MANILA – The results of the second run of the NCR COVID-19 Online Panel Survey conducted by PUBLiCUS Asia, Inc. show overwhelming support for the immediate roll-out of the National ID System to streamline the distribution of government aid during calamities like the COVID-19 pandemic.86.8% of the 1,000 Metro Manila residents aged 18-70 interviewed between April 13-18, 2020 said they approve of “the immediate roll-out of National ID System to facilitate faster delivery of financial assistance and other aid to families affected by crises such as COVID-19”. Only 13.2% disapprove.

While support for the National ID System was fairly consistent among most demographics, it varied significantly by residence.

Above-average approval was recorded among residents of Navotas (94.74%), Caloocan (91.06%), Pasig (89.83%), Muntinlupa (89.74%), Malabon (89.29%), Las Piñas (89.13%), Parañaque (88.46%), Quezon City (87.72%), Manila (87.68%), Pasay (87.5%), and Taguig (87.3%).

Meanwhile, below-average approval was recorded among residents of Mandaluyong (83.33%), Pateros (80%), Makati (77.78%), Valenzuela (77.08%), Marikina (74.29%), and San Juan (70%).

Mr. Aureli Sinsuat, PUBLiCUS Executive Director and spokesperson, said the roll-out of the National ID System should especially be prioritized in the National Capital Region and the 146 cities nationwide as it would “assist LGUs in contact tracing as well as determine who in the LGU population have already been tested. This important data will be used for any decision to lift the ECQ.”

“This data will also determine the degree of COVID-19 vulnerability within LGUs and weigh heavily in a timeline-driven pandemic response in case of a surge or relapse of cases,” he added.

The Philippine Identification System Act (Republic Act No. 11055) was signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte on August 6, 2018. The National ID System has yet to materialize twenty months after, despite the fact that a total of more than PhP 6 billion has been allocated in the 2018-2020 national budgets for its implementation.

Section 15 of RA 11055 identifies the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) as the “primary implementing agency to carry out the provisions of this Act”. Section 16 also created a PhilSys Policy and Coordination Council (PSPCC) co-chaired by the Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and the PSA National Statistician.

Duterte recently instructed newly-appointed Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Chua to speed up the roll-out of the National ID System.

However, Sinsuat also acknowledged the difficulty in getting the National ID system off the ground at this time, given its complexity and the heavy workload of LGU and national government personnel in combating COVID-19.

Sinsuat proposed the synchronization of LGU and national government databases and more aggressive data-sharing between agencies as a short-term solution to increase efficiency in identifying qualified beneficiaries for COVID-19 aid programs.

“Database synchronization would also increase transparency in the release of these funds because agencies can cross-validate their databases and remove any ghost beneficiaries that might be discovered. Through this inter-agency synergy, we can improve the transparency and accountability with which these funds will be handed out by the government,” he added.

NCR COVID-19 Online Panel Survey is an independent non-commissioned tracking survey designed by PUBLiCUS and VOX Opinion Research (VOX). The survey data was processed and analyzed by VOX, the in-house strategic research arm of PUBLiCUS.

The survey aims to gauge public opinion and perceptions on the following key indicators: Living Standards and Needs during the ECQ; National Government Performance; Local Government Performance; Existing/Proposed COVID-19 Policies.

The online fieldwork for the first run (Apr. 2-6, 2020) and the second run (Apr. 13-18, 2020) of the survey was conducted in partnership with Lightspeed Research/Kantar (Singapore). Lightspeed provided an online panel of 1,000 Metro Manila residents aged 18-70 from its pool of 100,000 Philippine panelists. The number of respondents per city was distributed proportionally based on official population data.

Lightspeed is now the Asia-Pacific headquarters of Kantar, a leading firm in the global data industry with a panel reach of 88 million respondents in 90 markets worldwide according to its website.

More information on the purposive sampling methodology and panel selection process of the survey can be found here.

Reference: Mr. Aureli C. Sinsuat, PUBLiCUS Executive Director
Email: acsinsuat@publicusltd.com