THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Nationalism has had a long history in our country. In our struggle for freedom, there have
been periods when strong nationalist feelings fired our people to action and other periods when
nationalism seemed to be forgotten. Not only did nationalism as a sentiment have its peaks
and valleys, nationalism as a political concept has been espoused at one time or another by
different sectors of society which projected particular nationalist goals as their own interests and
historical circumstances demanded (Constantino, 2005).
In addition, according to Constantino, as a national ideology, nationalism must
permeate every aspect of Philippine life. Nationalism demands both economic and
political independence. It resists and condemns foreign intervention in our internal affairs as
well as in the conduct of our foreign policy.
The principle of this study will be based on the theory of Nationalism and National
Identity.
Nationalism refers to an ideology, a sentiment, a form of culture, or a social movement
that focuses on the nation (Smith, 1993). It is a type of collectivism emphasizing the collective of
a specific nation.
According to Jaffrelot, “to construct a theory of the nation and to evolve one of the nation
is not the same thing. Nations have an institutional dimension that is state- oriented, hence the
notion of “nation- state” whereas nationalism is an ideology which often claims the control of a
nation and/ or promotes one’s own (superior) identity against others. Its foundations, therefore,
are rooted in identity politics and culture. Therefore… there are more affinities between theories
of nationalism and theories of ethnicity than between theories of nation and theories of
nationalism”.
National Identity describes that condition in which a mass of people have made the
same identification with national symbols have internalized the symbols of the nation so that
they may act as one psychological group when there is threat to, or the possibility of
enhancement of, these symbols of national identity (Bloom, 1990).
Bloom added that for national identity to exist, the people as a whole must have gone
through actual psychological process of making that general identification with the nation.
A Filipino may see his identity as both an asset and a liability, according to David. He
reiterated scenarios like: if our country is at war, the government may call on every Filipino to
defend the nation, and our conscience may prompt us to come to its defense as a matter of
duty. At immigration counters abroad, we may be rudely awakened to the fact of our Filipino
identity when we are made to step aside for a closer scrutiny of our travel documents. In foreign
lands, we may find solidarity and security in the bosom of fellow Filipinos. But others
may experience embarrassment in their company. When the country is praised or criticized
by foreigners, or when a Filipino is singled out for adulation or ridicule by the rest of the world,
we may grow in self-esteem or wither in shame. Either way, as David also implies, our
consciousness of being Filipino is sharpened (David, 2009).
Based on the foregoing premises, this study suggests that one of the solution to the
ongoing problems with regards to the National Identity of Filipinos is the implementation of the
National Identification System for all Filipinos as this study aims to critically analyze and
summarize various proposed legislations regarding the implementation of the National
Identification System.
To sum it all, the proposed national ID card is aimed at consolidating all government-
issued IDs, like the UMID ID, into an integrated and credible identification system for all
Filipinos. Each proposed legislation are not without any safeguard provisions which tackles the
question on the security and privacy issues or concerns.
Admittedly, the proposed ID card is susceptible to abuse and misuse by corrupt
disclosure of information and records obtained in relation to the application for the ID Card.
Even developed countries suffer from the same problem. The only difference is that they are
able to catch the guilty parties faster. To address this kind of issue, all the proposed legislations
provide for sanctions for misuse or abuse of the ID Card, if approved (Palabrica, 2015).