RapidPass project for quarantine checkpoints turned over to agencies

MANILA, Philippines — The volunteer tech group that developed RapidPass, an application that enables frontliners and essential goods to easily pass through quarantine checkpoints, began to transfer all operations on Monday to the Philippine government after announcing project completion.

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The DevCon Community of Technology Experts (DCTx) of non-profit Developers Connect (DEVCON) said that RapidPass implementation is now under the Department of Science and Technology, Department of Information and Communications Technology, and the Philippine National Police.

The PNP Joint Task Force COVID Shield helmed by Police Lt. General Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar will directly enforce RapidPass use in Metro Manila's quarantine control points. They have been supplied by PLDT with 540 phones to be used as scanners.

Meanwhile, the DCTx said that the RapidPass Coordination Group formed last week will ensure the "continuous and effective operation and implementation" of the application.

“RapidPassPH will continue to receive updates and system improvements from DCTx as the country continues to implement different versions of community quarantines. After the turnover, DCTx will continue to focus on other projects still in development that will support the frontliners and the Filipino people against COVID-19,” the tech group said in a Tuesday release.

Benefits of RapidPass, according to the application's official page, include removing vehicle congestion, speeding up much-needed deliveries, and contact-free verification of frontliners

The system is designed so that only authorized frontliners, skeleton workforces, and essential goods can pass through quarantine control points using unique QR codes.

The DICT also said that IATF-issued IDs will still be recognized by checkpoint personnel.

"We are looking forward to seeing our technology put into action to enable efficient travel for our frontliners and safer administration of our checkpoint officers," DEVCON founder Winston Damarillo said in a Wednesday statement.

Application forms and instructions for bulk registration of people and vehicles can be found here.

Stakeholders may also access the following page for more information on RapidPass.

“We would like to thank the DEVCON volunteers for coming up with this innovative solution which has eased the burden for our personnel in quarantine checkpoints and we would like to thank our partners, DICT, PNP, and DOST-NCR for working together in deploying RapidPass, and we thank our partners from the private sector, Microsoft, PLDT and SM, for donating phones to be used by PNP personnel at QCPs and bandwidth for the operation of RapidPass,” Science and Technology Secretary Fortunato dela Peña said in a Tuesday release.