City’s contact-tracing system in ‘full force’ by March 2021

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

 

The principal sponsor of Iloilo City’s Regulation Ordinance No. 2020-139 on the city’s new Quick-Response (QR) code-based contact tracing system confirmed on Tuesday that the system will be fully implemented by March 31, 2021.

As of this writing, Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas has approved the ordinance, but he told Daily Guardian via text that he called for a special session of the city council to “correct” some provisions.

When finalized, this would formalize the city’s USWAG Tracer system, which was launched in Nov. 16, but was taken down shortly after being overwhelmed with registrations.

The ordinance is part of the city government’s moves to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

It mandates all residents and non-residents, including visitors, who wish to transact with public and private businesses, establishments, and offices, including national government agencies with offices in the city, to secure their own QR codes.

These QR codes may be presented through saved images on their phones, or printouts.

These businesses, establishments, and offices are also mandated to have devices capable of scanning QR codes, and those without devices may print out their own QR code to be scanned by their customers upon entry.

They must designate personnel to check the QR codes by their customers, or to have them scan their establishment or office’s QR code if they do not have the scanners.

Personal information from residents include their full name, complete address, date of birth, age, and gender.

Non-residents will also fill out similar information but will have to provide their present address in the city and their permanent address outside of the city.

Private entities need to provide the name of their office or establishment, their business permit number, their complete address, and number of employees to register, while public offices will not need to provide any permit number.

According to Section 7 of the ordinance, the registered information will be used to process, plan, and formulate the city’s health protocols against emerging infectious diseases, and will be shared to the Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM), the Regional Epidemiologic Surveillance Unit (RESU) of the Department of Health (DOH), and the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine.

Addressing data privacy concerns which were previously raised by Information Technology (IT) professionals, Sec. 9 of the Ordinance provided for the following measures:

-Personal information will be securely processed and stored through a dedicated workstation specifically for that purpose. The serial number and Internet Protocol (IP) address of the computer used for processing of personal information of the data subjects will be reported to the National Privacy Commission as required by Republic Act No. 10173 (Data Privacy Act of 2012) and its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR);

-Restricted access and the use of security clearances shall be observed by the Data Protection Officer of the city government in storing and accessing registered personal data. All requests for access will be recorded, and copies of all requests will be stored and retained; and

-Shared only to public health authorities and necessary third parties, such as the POPCOM, RESU, and the RITM and its accredited units, with existing data sharing agreements.

 

The information will be stored and retained by the City Health Office for a period of three years from the date of registration.

Establishments found in violation of the ordinance may be fined up to P5,000, with suspension or revocation of business permits for repeat offenses, and personal liabilities by officers, managers, employees, and agents.

Individual violators may be fined up to P5,000 and may even face imprisonment of up to 6 months.

 

NO EXCEPTIONS

In an interview with Aksyon Radyo-Iloilo, City Councilor Lady Julie Grace Baronda, the principal sponsor of the ordinance, said they aim to fully implement the said Ordinance by March 31, 2021.

Sec. 25 of the ordinance states that its internal rules and regulations (IRR) would have to be issued after 30 days from publication.

Baronda emphasized that everyone in the city, including months-old babies, would have to be registered for their personal QR codes.

She added that the only possible exemptions are those travelling through the city, provided that they do not visit establishments.

As repeatedly stated by city government officials, registration of personal information for those who cannot access the system would be via their barangays or via validation centers.

Regarding public markets and malls, the provisions of the ordinance are unclear as to how they would be done—whether at the entry points or the individual stalls.

Baronda said that these will be tackled in the crafting of the IRR.

 

UNDERWAY

Despite not having any legal bases, barangay officials and volunteers are already underway with gathering personal information from residents.

Barangay Captain Roberto Niño of Calumpang in Molo district, who is also the Public Information Officer of city’s Liga ng mga Barangay, confirmed this in a radio interview, also on Tuesday.

According to Niño, the barangay secretaries have already been oriented by the city government’s IT division last month on the templates and the procedures to be done.

He clarified that this is for those who do not have access to the online contact tracing system.

Even though the initial USWAG Tracer site was suspended for the meantime, he said that they have continued gathering data “in the interest of time”.

He said Brgy. Calumpang had collected information from “around 50 to 60 percent” of their residents, which could be smaller compared to other barangays because of their barangay’s big population.

Preference in priority for registration was given to the immunocompromised, the senior citizens, and Persons With Disabilities (PWDs).

“We are already moving on this, so that we wouldn’t run out of time when the ordinance is in place, because we are also looking that the barangays will be printing these. We will also be going to the constituents to give them their QR codes. In our barangay, we are at 50 to 60 percent because we have a big barangay. Other smaller barangays may have already reached 70 to 80 percent, because ours is very wide, so that is a challenge we are looking at,” Niño said.