Sep 24, 2009

RFID Tags to be implemented this October

"The Philippine government through the Land Transportation Office (LTO) will begin tagging next month all vehicles with the radio frequency identification (RFID) labels. This will enable it to identify and know everything about a specific vehicle with the speed of electronic computing. This is the hopeful solution to traffic problems in the metropolitan areas. The sticker contains a microchip storing vehicle information that is reportedly tamper-proof and can only be “read” by authorized scanners of the LTO and the police. Motorists will pay a one-time tagging fee of P350 when they register their vehicles. The RFID tag is expected to last 10 years."

More on this at ABS-CBN.

Okay, now the question that was pointed at in this morning's Umagang Kay Ganda is "why the rush?" It was claimed that the motorists did not know anything about this until it was shown in a TV commercial. And that this particular project may become an avenue for violating human rights and all. However, it was said that this is actually a part of the LTO IT Project that have been thought of since 1997.

Any prior news about this?I have done a bit of research and here's what I found out. There have been news about it in as early as 2007. Read on...

Easing Traffic in Manila with RFID, Dec. 6, 2007
RFID News

Traffic Agency using RFID tags to ease congestion in Manila, Dec. 5, 2007
Allheadlinenews

Now it seems that the motorists group have not been paying attention to prior efforts. The claim that this is a total surprise is not entirely correct. The more legit question to pose now is that has this particular program been presented in a public hearing before? If not yet and if indeed going through this is the right move, then perhaps this should be put on hold until the protocols are met.

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