StaySafe.ph wants to enroll 50% of population, but hindered by issues with LGUs, citizen registration

The Philippines' official contact tracing application against COVID-19, StaySafe.ph, targets to enroll 50% of the country's population into its platform for maximum effectivity, but two issues are pulling it back from achieving this.

According to MultiSys Technologies Corp., out of the 107 million population of the country, only a million Filipinos from over 200 local government units (LGUs) are currently enrolled in the system.

MultiSys Technologies Corp., led by chief executive officer David Almirol Jr., developed the StaySafe.ph application, which has been selected as the official contact tracing application against the coronavirus disease 2019.

"We have two problems, to be honest. First is to implement the StaySafe to the LGUs, because LGUs are the one implementing StaySafe for them to enter their probable, suspected, and confirmed cases," Almirol told reporters in a virtual press briefing.

According to Almirol, there have been issues regarding the knowledge transfer to the LGUs, as training is needed not only to the local officials but also to their information technology (IT) teams.

"Ang pinakaimportante talaga is dapat ma-implement ng LGU unang una para maipasok 'yung mga probable, suspected, and confirmed cases nila. Pangalawa, dapat mag-download ang mga citizen," he said.

"The only effective way to do this is the LGU should use it and the citizen should," added Almirol.

Almirol noted that the penetration rate of the application has been relatively low, as he cited trust issues of Filipinos, who prefer applications developed overseas.

"StaySafe was built to save lives. If Filipinos will start trusting Filipinos, I think Filipinos can use it. I think that's the biggest problem -- we Filipinos don't trust each other anymore," he said.

Earlier this month, former DICT Undersecretary Eliseo Rio, Jr. said he was "eased out" of his position after raising concerns on StaySafe.ph.

In a Facebook post, Rio said StaySafe.ph was selected as the sole contact tracing application to monitor the spread of the coronavirus, even with compatibility and privacy issues.

During the briefing on Monday, however, Almirol addressed privacy issues as he said that the data stored by the StaySafe system is deleted every 30 days.

"Every 30 days, nagkakaroon ng deletion of the record. 'Yan ang ginagawa natin so hindi po ito namamalagi habambuhay," he said.

Moving forward, Almirol said the application will be fully turned over to the Department of Health (DOH), but more Filipinos should be registered to be effective as a contact tracing application.

"Walang silbi ang isang milyon na registrant sa StaySafe. Kailangan natin kahit man lang sana 50% ng population ng Philippines," he said.

"One million is nothing. That is 1% of the population. I will guarantee you that is nothing, it will not help, but I see StaySafe as a solution," he added.—AOL, GMA News