GOING DIGITAL Passengers scan QR codes on their phones during the launch of a contact tracing app for MRT 3 users. —NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives on Thursday adopted a resolution urging the government’s COVID-19 task force to establish a unified contact tracing system.
Through voice voting, House lawmakers adopted House Resolution 1680, which was authored by Speaker Lord Allan Velasco and several of his colleagues.
Under the resolution, it urges the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to establish a unified contact tracing protocol “for a more effective health emergency data monitoring system.
The resolution also seeks to designate a government agency or body “to serve as the central repository of a unified contact tracing information and database that complies with the Data Privacy Act of 2012.”
Malacañang previously admitted that contact tracing is the “weakest point” in the Philippines’ response against COVID-19 pandemic, with Palace spokesman Harry Roque saying that the StaySafe.ph contact tracing application has not yet been fully deployed despite the government earlier requiring its use.