By Alexander Villafania
QUEZON CITY, METRO MANILA – The Philippine National Police (PNP) has a received a donation of automated fingerprint identification system (AFIS) worth P500 million from the Japanese government.
PNP Directorate of Investigation and Detective Management (DIDM) Director Arturo Cacdac, Jr. highlighted the importance of the new AFIS to police work by speeding up the identification of fingerprints found in crime scenes.
The new AFIS will also be linked up with PNP’s existing integrated ballistic identification system (IBIS), which looks at “fingerprints” of spent shell casings and bullets.
The IBIS basically helps police identify the type of weapon used during investigation. It can compare and cross-reference evidences stored in their database.
AFIS is widely used in developed countries for investigation but it is also used for civil purposes such as elections, driver licensing, and even registration for specific services.
Cacdac also noted that the PNP will soon be acquiring a DNA identification system, which would release results in three days. Cacdac said these upgrades in their manual systems would help improve the PNP’s investigations, as well as other investigative agencies.
