The Persons with Disability Affairs Office (PDAO) under the City Mayor’s Office advises establishments in Baguio City to be vigilant against individuals using fake identification cards as persons with disability (PWD) to avail discounts.
The precaution was issued after an establishment in the city complained of a group of tourists from Manila City where eight out of the 13 individuals presented PWD IDs upon availing of the services during the recent holiday season.
It was later found out that all eight PWD IDs used in Baguio City were not registered or fake upon verification with the supposedly issuing local government unit.
Samuel Aquino, PDAO Supervising Officer advises commercial establishments to take precautionary measures by taking a photo or photocopying the PWD IDs and verifying with issuing LGUs as documentary basis for possible actions in the future.
In Baguio City, Aquino said there were incidents of attempted renewal of PWD ID but there was no record found in the PDAO registry thus, rendering the IDs as fake. The PDAO already flagged the names of the four persons who attempted to acquire a PWD ID by renewing a counterfeit card.
“We were able to detect that the PWD IDs they presented were not legitimately-issued by the office based on the logo while the identification numbers reflected in the cards were inconsistent with the PDAO registry,” Samuel said.
As of January 3, 2023 there are 4,563 validated PWDs in Baguio City per PDAO registry. PWD IDs are valid for five years beginning last year based on Administrative Order No. 01-2021 issued by the National Council for Disability Affairs (NCDA).
To verify the authenticity of PWD IDs, Aquino advised establishments to directly coordinate with the issuing LGUs reflected in the cards. For Baguio City, the telephone number is 442-7228 or message the PDAO Baguio Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/pac.lach.
