The Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) was instructed to “review” the details concerning the One Health Pass (OHP) for Covid-19 amid several complaints from travelers, the Department of Health (DOH) said.
DOH Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said that they recognized the issues being raised about the OHP.
“Nung ating nireview ang nilalaman ng One Health Pass ang dami pong detalye na hinihingi sa ating mga pasahero. And I think isa yun sa inconvenient para sa ating mga pasahero (When we reviewed the contents of the One Health Pass, there were many details that were requested from our passengers. And I think that is one of the inconveniences for our passengers),” said Vergeire in a press briefing on Tuesday, Oct. 11.
“Bukod sa pagoonline ng ating mga kababayan o kaya mga pasahero na papunta sa Pilipinas, nagva-validate pa ang ating Bureau of Quarantine pagdating sa airport (Aside from inputting data online of our passengers going to the Philippines, our Bureau of Quarantine is still validating them when they arrive at the airport), which have caused a long queue in our airports. So we already have instructed the Bureau of Quarantine that iayos lang yung pagpapatupad hindi na kailangan vinavalidate pa pagdating sa airport (to fix the implementation and there is no need for further validation upon arrival at the airport),” she added.
Vergeire said these were tackled during the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF- IED) meeting last Oct. 4.
“The Bureau of Quarantine was instructed already to review the details included the One Health Pass,” said Vergeire.
The DOH is also in coordination with other agencies such as the Department of Tourism (DOT), Department of Transportation (DOTr), and Department Of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to streamline processes.
“They have a meeting this Thursday so that we can further streamline the process, mapaikli, mas maging convenient sa ating mga kababayan at sa mga pumapasok sa ating bansa itong One Health Pass (make it shorter, make this One Health Pass more convenient for those travelers entering our country). So after that meeting, we will be providing updates to all of you,” said Vergeire.
Meanwhile, the Health official emphasized the importance of OHP, especially for contact tracing efforts .
“Balikan natin ang ating objective for the One Health Pass (Let's go back to the objective of the One Health Pass). The One Health Pass was instituted or implemented so that we can be able to have a centralized database of all the entries of travelers going to or inside the Philippines,” she said.
“This is very important for us— for surveillance purposes— dahil dito natin nakikita at nata-track ang ating mga pasahero kung sakali na magkakasakit sila (because this is where we can see and track our passengers in case they get sick),” she added.