Logbooks ditched; info slips preferred

WITH THE passage of a city ordinance penned by Councilor Michael Lawana, the use of logbooks in establishments and public utility vehicles will no longer be required in the city.

The ordinance imposes the use of information slips instead for record and monitoring purposes amid the coronavirus disease outbreak.

The ordinance was approved on third and final reading by the City Council on July 27 and will have to be signed by Mayor Benjamin Magalong for its enactment.

Raising concern on privacy and protection of customers, clients, and the riding public, Lawana deemed it wise to require people to hand an information slip upon entry instead of requiring them to write their personal information on a logbook.

“Passengers, customers, and clients fear that their information may be exhibited, set out, or posted for open viewing by the general public and may be used conspicuously,” Lawana explained.

With the constant surge of positive cases of Covid-19 in the city, handing a slip of paper containing the needed information would help abate the risk of contagion, Lawana said.

“For safety reasons, people hesitate to use objects like the pen and paper provided for them for the registration,” Lawana added.

The alderman said replacing the logbook with the information slip would alley these public fears.

The city ordinance shall allow constituents to prepare and submit their own information slip prepared in advance. The information slip shall contain the “true and correct” basic information needed such as the person’s name, city address, contact number, and date of transaction.

All public utility vehicles, business establishments, government

agencies, and private offices must ensure that the submitted information slips shall not be exhibited, set out, or posted for open viewing by the general public.

All public utility vehicle operators, business establishment managers/owners, and persons-in-charge in government agencies and private offices shall devise a system or method on how to collate, store, and organize the information contained in the slips for accessibility purposes.

The data shall be made available when so required by the City Government of Baguio and agencies of the government.