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How to get a PWD ID (Person with Disability Identification Card)

A card that proves you have a disability. It gives you a 20% discount and no VAT on medicine, doctor and dentist fees, lab tests, restaurants, hotels, movies, and land, sea, and air travel. It also gets you a 5% discount on basic goods and free help in government hospitals.

PWD ID (Person with Disability Identification Card)
Generic Philippine PWD ID sample, Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Based on the DSWD sample published by the Philippine Information Agency. The exact card design changes per city or municipality.

The three ways to get it

Online

Partly

There is no nationwide online PWD ID application yet. Big cities like Quezon City have their own portals.

Even online, you usually still have to go to the office once to claim the plastic card or to be assessed. The PWD ID has been listed as coming soon in the eGovPH app, but it is not yet a live digital ID there.

  1. Check if your own city or town has an online form. This changes per LGU, so there is no one national website.
  2. Example: in Quezon City go to qceservices.quezoncity.gov.ph, sign up with your email, confirm the account, log in, pick QCitizen ID eApplication, answer Yes for the PWD sector, and upload your papers. A virtual ID shows right after you submit.
  3. You may also fill up the DOH PWD registration form online at pwd.doh.gov.ph, print it, and bring it to your PDAO with your papers.
  4. Watch your email and your account for the approval, then claim the printed card at the PDAO or wait for it to be delivered.

Walk-in

Yes

This is the normal way. Bring the original AND a photocopy of every paper.

Bring a ballpen. If your LGU has no PDAO, do not give up, go to the MSWDO instead.

Nurses at the city or municipal health office can also issue the Certificate of Disability for some conditions, which is cheaper than a private specialist.

  1. If your disability is not easy to see, get a Certificate of Disability or medical certificate from a specialist first. Bring the original and a photocopy.
  2. Get a barangay certificate if you have no valid ID or if your ID has an old address.
  3. Go to the PDAO in your city hall or municipal hall. If there is no PDAO, go to the C/MSWDO.
  4. Ask for the PWD ID Application Form and fill it up.
  5. Hand in the form, your photos, your ID, your proof of address, and your doctor's certificate.
  6. The officer checks your papers. If your disability is easy to see, he may assess you right there and no doctor's certificate is needed.
  7. Your details are typed into the DOH registry and a PWD ID number is given to you.
  8. The mayor's office signs the card. Claim the card and sign the release logbook.

Representative

Yes

This is written into the national rules, not just local practice. Ncda Administrative Order No. 001, Series of 2021 uses the term 'Applicant/Guardian/Authorized Representative' all through the process, and its release step says 'Release the pwd-idc to the applicant/guardian/authorized representative.' It also states plainly what to bring: 'Guardian, proof of guardianship' and 'Authorized Representative, notarized authorization letter.' The same order says the PWD's caregiver can help with the application.

Note the word notarized. A plain handwritten letter is enough for a senior citizen ID but not always for a PWD ID.

  1. Prepare a notarized authorization letter. Put the PWD's full name and address, the representative's full name, and what the representative may do, then have the PWD sign or thumb mark it and get it notarized.
  2. If you are the legal guardian instead, bring proof of guardianship. A notarized letter is then not needed.
  3. The representative brings the notarized letter or the guardianship proof, plus a valid ID of the representative.
  4. Bring all the normal papers of the PWD: form, photos, valid ID, proof of address, and the doctor's certificate.
  5. The representative may file the application and may also claim the printed card.
  6. For a bedridden PWD, ask the PDAO for a home assessment. Many PDAOs and barangays run house-to-house registration days.
  7. For a renewal where the card is lost, the representative should also bring the PWD's Affidavit of Loss.

What to bring

  • Filled-up PWD ID Application Form (pwdid-af). Free from the PDAO, C/MSWDO, DOH, or ncda
  • Two recent 1x1 photos. Write your name and put your signature or thumb mark at the back of each photo
  • One valid government ID. If you have none, a barangay certificate is accepted
  • For children: school ID, or a photocopy of the birth certificate if there is no school ID
  • Proof of address: voter's ID, barangay certificate, or a utility bill with your exact name and address
  • Certificate of Disability from a licensed doctor. For hidden disabilities such as mental, psychosocial, learning, intellectual, hearing, non-visible eye problems, cancer, and rare diseases, this must come from a specialist. For cancer and rare disease it must be an oncologist, surgeon, or other expert doctor
  • Not needed if your disability is easy to see (blind, missing limb, hard to walk). The PDAO officer may assess you and issue the Certificate of Disability himself
  • If a guardian is filing: proof of guardianship
  • If a representative is filing: a notarized authorization letter
  • For renewal: filled-up form with the Renewal box ticked, plus your expired card. If the card is lost, an Affidavit of Loss and two 1x1 photos

Fill this in before you go

Straight from the agency. Print it and bring it filled in.

The details

Who can apply

Any Filipino with a long-term disability. The listed types are deaf or hard of hearing, intellectual, learning, mental, orthopedic, physical, psychosocial, speech and language, and visual, plus people with cancer and people with a rare disease.

There is no age limit and no income limit. Children can get one too.

Cost

Free for the first card. Ncda Administrative Order No. 001, Series of 2021 says 'The initial pwd-idc is free of charge.' The same order says a lost or damaged card 'may be charged a minimal fee' for replacement, and that amount is set by your LGU. Renewing on time is normally free, but a few LGUs charge a small fee if you renew after the card already expired.

How long it takes

Same day to about 1 week in most cities. Some LGUs release it in 15 to 30 minutes if you already have your doctor's certificate.

Slower towns take 2 to 3 weeks because the mayor has to sign every card. Renewal is usually faster because you are already in the registry.

How long it lasts

5 years. Ncda Administrative Order No. 001, Series of 2021 states 'The pwd-idc issued to the PWD shall be valid for five (5) years.' You may renew one month before it expires, or after it has expired.

Warning: older cards printed before 2021 say 'valid for three (3) years' on the face. Follow the date printed on your own card.

Tips

  • The biggest hold-up is the doctor's certificate for hidden disabilities. Book that first, before you go to the PDAO. A city health office doctor is usually free or cheap.
  • Do not use fake or borrowed PWD IDs. The BIR and the DTI have been running checks on fake PWD cards, and the penalty falls on both the user and the store.
  • Check the expiry printed on your card. Old cards say 3 years, cards issued under the 2021 rules say 5 years. Renew one month before it expires so you never lose your discounts.
  • Keep a photo of your card on your phone, but carry the real card. Stores are told to look at the real card and the purchase booklet.
  • Since 16 July 2025 PWDs get 50% off on LRT-1, LRT-2, and MRT-3, not just 20%. Show your PWD ID at the counter or use a registered white Beep card.

Not verified

The research could not confirm these against an official 2026 source. Phone the office before you travel.

  • the exact peso amount for a replacement, because no national rule sets it.
  • the launch date of a digital PWD ID in eGovPH.

Sources