CHR: South Cotabato COVID-19 tracing system should consider right to privacy

MANILA, Philippines — South Cotabato’s coronavirus disease (COVID-19) contact tracing system should strike a “careful balance” between the public’s right to health and their right to privacy, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said Thursday.

In a statement, Atty. Jacqueline De Guia said the COVID-19 tracing system should also pass the test “not just of legality, but also of compliance to human rights parameters.”

“Without a clear plan for its implementation, CHR clarifies that South Cotabato’s COVID-19 tracing system should pass the test, not only of legality but also of compliance to human rights parameters, including the careful balance between the public’s right to health and the people’s right to privacy,” De Guia said.

Over the weekend, the South Cotabato local government launched the contact tracing app to be used by at least 2,000 establishments in the province.

Gov. Reynaldo Tamayo Jr. also assured that there was nothing to worry about when it comes to the privacy of the citizens that were collated for the app, saying it just “merely computerizes the logbook.”

CHR-Region XII then released a position paper on the matter, saying that the app was “legal, constitutional  and even laudable, finding as it does, the response measure to be consistent with the call of the government to adopt appropriate measures  towards the full realization of the rights to health.”

De Guia said that at  “face value,” the local contract tracing system fits within the national government’s triad of “test, trace, treat” in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Interventions, such as preventing further transmission, are best aided with correct and timely information,” the CHR spokesperson said.

However, De Guia raised concern for  human rights, saying: “laws must always be in consonance with established human rights standards and shall ultimately work to uphold and respect a person’s dignity even when confronted with a national health emergency.”

The CHR spokesperson also called for unity in the time of the crisis and urged the government and local authorities “to place human rights at the center of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As of Wednesday, the total tally for COVID-19 cases in the country is at 13,221, of which 842 have died while 2,932 have recovered.

/MUF