A viral Facebook post is gaining attention for shedding light on the poor quality of the Philippines’ national ID. In the post, Lindsey Anne Yu shares her frustrations over carrying what she calls “a laminated piece of paper” that frequently draws questions abroad. Now with over 16,000 shares, her experience has resonated with many Filipinos who expressed similar concerns online.
Yu, who is currently in Taiwan, shared her experience of being repeatedly asked if her national ID is a valid document or just a copy whenever she presents it for official purposes.
“Every single time I hand over this ID, I’m asked the same question—‘Is this your valid ID in the Philippines or just a copy?’ And every time, I have to awkwardly explain that yes, this is the real thing,” she wrote. “We always laugh about it after, but I’m not really too happy about it.”
She said she prefers using the national ID over a passport for daily transactions, but its poor quality has left her embarrassed.
“This laminated piece of paper, printed from a regular printer in a mall booth na ako pa nagpalaminate, it doesn’t feel dignified. Sana ako nalang din nagprint,” Yu added.
More than personal inconvenience, her post raised broader concerns about the state of public service in the Philippines.
“I carry it in shame, not at the fact na I’m a Filipino, but because we’ve allowed government officials to treat us so poorly that even in the printing out of our IDs bumababa yung tingin ng mga tao satin,” she wrote. “If our national ID, something meant to represent our identity and citizenship, is handled with so little care, how can we expect our government to take care of more pressing matters with the attention they need?”
Yu said she waited a year to receive her ID and recalled even more troubling stories. “Even worse, I once saw a story of a mom’s national ID being delivered to his son, months after she’s passed.”
She closed her post with a reflection that resonated with many: “I know this is just one small thing in a mountain of much bigger problems, but it’s in the little things that we are constantly reminded of how far we are from what we deserve. We really deserve better.”
