Lacking uniform vaccine card, OFWs face host countries’ ban

MANILA, Philippines — Thousands, if not millions, of fully inoculated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) run the risk of being denied entry by their host countries because of the absence of a national vaccination card, a lawmaker said yesterday.

Rep. Ronnie Ong of party-list Ang Probinsiyano made the statement after Hong Kong refused entry to OFWs and Filipino tourists on the basis that immigration authorities rejected vaccination cards issued by local government units (LGUs).

In December 2020, Ong filed House Bill 8280 or the proposed Vaccination Passport Law.

“Had the government been more pro-active in creating a national vaccination card and database, our OFWs would have been allowed entry in Hong Kong,” Ong pointed out.

The House committee on health chaired by Quezon Rep. Helen Tan has yet to approve the proposed bill.

Ong called on his colleagues to speed up the passage of the measure as around 11 million Filipinos have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

He said Hong Kong authorities are not solely to blame for the immigration problem because there is no efficient way to verify the authenticity of documents presented by inbound OFWs.

“If swab test results can be altered, how much more these vaccination cards?” Ong said. “That’s why it is important that we have credible proof of vaccination. I am sure vaccination card will soon be as important as driver’s license under the new normal.”

Ong said the government should expedite the creation of a centralized vaccination database, which could allow immigration authorities worldwide to verify and authenticate vaccination cards.

He said the database should have been established by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) as soon as the government started its vaccination program.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said the government should establish a centralized database system of fully vaccinated people following reports that some residents were given booster shots amid the limited supply of vaccines.

Gatchalian also proposed the inclusion of those whose inoculation was shouldered by private companies.

He noted that under the tripartite agreement that the private sector entered into with the government that allowed them to procure COVID-19 vaccines, private companies are required to submit a list of vaccinated individuals for monitoring purposes.

Gatchalian said this should be merged with the administration system of the DICT for the unified vaccination certificates for fully inoculated individuals.

“The Departments of the Interior and Local Government and Health should make vaccination cards uniform so that we will be ready when the vaccination card becomes a global standard,” he said. “Hopefully, we will have a uniform vaccination card. Advanced countries will not recognize the individual vaccination cards of different local government units.”

Meanwhile, DICT Secretary Gregorio Honasan lauded the response of LGUs to the agency’s call for the submission of line lists to the vaccine information management system (VIMS).

The DICT said Metro Manila mayors have expressed their support for the VIMS by committing to submit their respective line lists. – Cecille Suerte Felipe, Richmond Mercurio