The Department of Education (DepEd) vowed Monday, June 28, to assist its more than 900,000 public school teachers in securing their Philippine National Public Key Infrastructure (PNPKI) digital signatures as part of its commitment to ensure “secure and peaceful” May 2022 elections.

Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones said in preparation for the national and local polls next year, they will facilitate their employees’ application to obtain the PNPKI digital signature, which is a new requirement of the Commission of Elections (Comelec) for all public school teachers who will serve as Electoral Board Members.

“We are continuously cooperating with our lead agencies to have a secure and peaceful elections, and part of our commitment is to ensure that our teachers are protected and given the proper support,” she said in a statement.

DepEd explained that the digital signature is a virtual ‘key’ that subscribers use to secure files sent over an otherwise unsecured ‘public’ network like the Internet.

The agency has written the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) requesting “to streamline the application process by waiving the requirement for individual application forms, including physically filing out the forms.”

It said the requirement for individual application forms should be waived “as this may be cumbersome to check individually for errors.”

DepEd explained that such “rigorous process” for teachers will entail the downloading of application forms, physically filling them out, and uploading the same wherein checking for accuracy is an altogether different tedious task.

It noted that it was able to convince the DICT to waive the requirements for individual interviews and supporting IDs in their previous discussions.

“This proposal will guarantee that our teachers will not be burdened by rigorous steps and requirements anymore,” Undersecretary for Administration Alain Del B. Pascua said in a letter to the DICT.

DepEd also batted for “the use of available secure and reliable technologies and the submission of documents for bulk processing in place of the PNPKI application forms.”

“Documents proposed to be submitted to DICT include a spreadsheet file containing DepEd employees’ verified data certified by Human Resources, and an institutional application from DepEd in place of individual applications.”

DepEd assured that the online registration of its employees will be facilitated through its DepEd Mobile App and DepEd Commons to expedite the application process.

It urged the public school teachers to visit https://dict.gov.ph/frequently-asked-questions-pnpki%EF%BB%BF/ to know more about PNPKI.