After creating the now-viral Bacolod Online Barter Community that currently has more than 232,000 members, former Bacolod City Councillor Atty. Jocelle Batapa Sigue has embarked on a new technological novelty to create a COVID-19 ID QR Code that will contain a person’s contact tracing information.

The QR Code ID is aimed to be utilized at public places such as restaurants, malls, government offices, or other third places, and seeks to do without physical forms & pens, which the former councilor says are prone to the coronavirus transmission. With this, establishments may then just scan a user’s QR Code with a smartphone or scanner using a specialized app that immediately records all necessary contact tracing information of the guest.

Atty. Sigue is planning to debut the pilot program of the COVID-19 ID during the third anniversary of the Bacolod Barter Community, where they will unveil a messenger bot that will generate a QR Code containing your contact tracing details for you.

How it will work

The user just needs to enter their name, contact number/email address (optional), and upload their picture, and all their details are saved in their very own COVID-19 Contact Tracing ID.

According to Sigue, restaurants and carenderias will be the primary launch target of this initiative. The establishment will just scan a guests’ COVID-19 ID with whatever device they have and the information is automatically sent to a secure server which Sigue and her partners will provide. At the end of the day, the owners of the business just need to log-in to a system that will give them a full report of who has visited the restaurant.

For scanning temperatures, restaurants may input their guests’ readings at real time as the information from the COVID-19 IDs are transmitted instantly to the establishment’s computer.

Concerning COVID-19 Symptoms reporting, Sigue believes that this is impractical as she believes no one will willfully declare their symptoms. Furthermore, she adds that the latest reports from the WHO have found that COVID-19 cases may have little to no symptoms as all. With this, she adds that this initiative can help bolster contract tracing as she states this is key to preventing the spread of the virus by finding the source and mitigating each outbreak.

Privacy Concerns

Atty. Sigue ensures that all information will be isolated in their specialized servers, and only the establishment will know the identity of the QR Code holder in their planned privacy policy that has to be signed by both the establishment and the party of Sigue.

Although it is not yet final, Sigue also ensures that all information in the initiative’s servers will be secure from third parties, and only the information given to the QR-code generating Messenger bot, as well as the Facebook profile attached to your Messenger.

The business model will come from a minimal fee from the establishments in order to pay for the cost of maintaining the database. An estimated four restaurants have so far expressed interest

Origin of the COVID-19 ID Concept

The concept, according to Ms. Sigue, was born out of concern when she went out to dine-in at a restaurant for the first time during the new normal and saw the process of how establishments were taking their guests’ information.

We were handed a form for us to fill up and were given three sets of ballpens. I was not only afraid of the virus in the ballpen but more so irritated that it took too long, which is against my imperative as an IT person

Atty. Batapa Sigue on the backstory of how she came up with the COVID-19 ID idea

Atty. Sigue says that the QR Code has been around for years and frequently assists start-ups in the city with their ventures.

Last March 2020, she helped a technological start up develop their QR code Barangay Registration System, which she says a lot of Local Government Units are adopting. According to the former councillor, she had proposed the idea to multiple start-ups, however, had stated that she decided on pursuing the initiative herself out of passion for her country.

Future of the COVID-19 QR Code ID

During the long-run, Atty. Sigue believes that the national ID system will soon replace the COVID-19 QR Code. According to her, she believes that such system should also be handled by an independent body of technical people and IT professionals.

Being a founder of the Bacolod-Negros Occidental Federation for Information and Communications Technology (BNEFIT) in 2008 and the Vice-President of the National ICT Confederation of the Philippines (NICP), Atty. Sigue remarks that her advocacy for the last five or six years is internet and media literacy for all.

In order to ensure people responsibly use the new COVID-19 QR Code ID, Sigue will be conducting cybersecurity training awareness programs & seminars, as well as giving Certificate of Safe Computer Users.

Atty. Jocelle Batapa was a former city councilor of Bacolod City for 9 years & passing multiple legislation for gender empowerment & children, environment, tourism, livelihood & education, has taught 22 years of law school, and a pioneer of ICT development in the city, named one of The Outstanding Women in National Service (TOWNS) awardee in the field of ICT 2016.