The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has reiterated its appeal to citizens to report individuals involved in the illegal use of persons with disability (PWD) identification cards (IDs) in public.

This came after posts of individuals allegedly posing as PWDs to avail of the benefits and privileges for persons with disability circulated on social media.

According to Administrative Order No. 001, Series of 2008, issued by the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA), PWD IDs, shall only be issued to persons with permanent disabilities due to any one or more of the following conditions: psychosocial, chronic illness, learning, mental, visual, orthopedic, speech, and hearing conditions. These include persons suffering from disabling diseases resulting from their limitations to perform day-to-day activities as normally as possible.

The Department warned that falsification of public documents and the use of falsified documents are criminal offenses and are punishable under the Revised Penal Code.

DSWD also noted that the issuance of the PWD ID will only be through the Persons with Disability Affairs Office (PDAO), located in every city or municipality around the country.

Meanwhile, the Department encourages the public to report incidents involving the illegal use of PWD ID to the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA), an attached agency of DSWD, through council@ncda.gov.ph or report to the PDAO or to any law enforcement agency.

DSWD will coordinate with concerned agencies including the Department of Health (DOH), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and NCDA, to monitor the issue. ###