The Persons with Disability Affairs Office (PDAO) under the City Mayor’s Office has advised establishments in the city to be vigilant against individuals using fake PWD identification cards to avail of discounts.
The precaution was issued after an establishment in the city complained about 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 all eight PWD IDs used are not registered or fake upon verification with the supposed issuing local government unit.
PDAO Supervising Officer Samuel Aquino advised commercial establishments to take precautionary measures by taking a photo or photocopying the PWD IDs and verifying with the issuing LGU as documentary basis for possible action in the future.
Aquino said there were incidents of attempted renewal of PWD IDs in the city, but no records were found in the PDAO registry, rendering the IDs as fake.
The PDAO already flagged the names of 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,” Aquino said.
As of Jan. 3, there are 4,563 validated PWDs in the city as per PDAO registry.
PWD IDs are valid for five years beginning last year based on Administrative Order 01-2021 issued by the National Council for Disability Affairs.
To verify the authenticity of a PWD ID, Aquino advised establishments to coordinate with the issuing LGUs reflected in the cards.
For Baguio City, contact 442-7228 or message the PDAO Baguio Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pac.lach. – Jessa Mardy P. Samidan
