SEN. GRACE POE's AMENDMENT ON THE VACCINE CARD PROVISION AS ADOPTED:

On the Vaccine Card provision under Section 12* of the clean copy, page 7, line 3, after the word "vaccinations", add a new line which reads:

"AND MANDATE A UNIFORM FORMAT FOR THE VACCINE CARD WHICH SHALL BE UPDATED ACCORDINGLY TO ALWAYS CONFORM WITH GLOBALLY-ACCEPTED STANDARDS."

The paragraph shall now read as follows:

The issuance of a vaccine card is intended to be digital, but shall remain accessible through other means such as printed cards. The DOH, through the Department of Information and Communications Technology, shall develop the LGU-based digital systems and applications that will meet the objectives of the COVID-19 Vaccination program while maintaining quality, safety, ease of use, and accessibility for all Filipinos: Provided, that the DOH shall maintain a central database of vaccinations AND MANDATE A UNIFORM FORMAT FOR THE VACCINE CARD WHICH SHALL BE UPDATED ACCORDINGLY TO ALWAYS CONFORM WITH GLOBALLY-ACCEPTED STANDARDS: Provided further that LGUs shall recognize and accept vaccine cards validly issued by other LGUs.

*Section 12 is an abridged version of Sen. Grace Poe's Senate Bill No. 1994 on vaccine passports.

TRANSCRIPT FOR REFERENCE:

Sen. Grace Poe: I have a suggestion for the wording of the card that might be a little bit more palatable to some who are averse to it. On the vaccine card provision under section 12, page seven, line three, after the word vaccinations, add a new line which reads: "and mandate a uniform format for the vaccine card which shall be updated accordingly to always conform with globally-accepted standards as prescribed by the World Health Organization." So in short, wala pa naman kasi pero eventually kapag meron nang standard hindi na kailangang bumalik pa to discuss and have another law just to update it. It's open formatted right now. Just a uniform card or if you don't want to call it a card, just a record which will be updated kapag meron nang globally accepted standard. Kasi baka mapag-iwanan na naman tayo 'pag sinabi na ito na ang kailangan na form, ano, we'll have to amend the law. At least this is already open-ended. That's my suggestion, Mr. President.

Senate President Vicente Sotto: What does Senator Pimentel say?

Sen. Koko Pimentel: That can proceed independently, Mr. President. My amendment is a deletion and then the amendment of Senator Poe is an additional sentence.

Sotto: Deletion muna. Alright, so let's act on the motion first of Senator Pimentel. Any objection to the deletion of line three and four? Alright, Senator Poe, you can put that into motion if you wish.

Poe: Okay. So now, again, if I may read it, page seven, line three. After the word vaccination, add the lines: "and mandate a uniform format for the vaccine card which shall be updated accordingly to always conform with globally-accepted standards as prescribed by the World Health Organization."

Sotto: What does the sponsor say?

Sen. Sonny Angara: Mr. President, we're inclined to accept but we were told by DOH, if this is amenable to Senator Poe, the proponent of the amendment, to just remove the phrase at the end, "as prescribed by the World Health Organization" because according to the DOH, WHO does not have standards for vaccine cards. So the amendment would end with the words "globally-accepted standards," and we would accept that, Mr. President.

Poe: I think that's a better amendment.

Angara: We accept, Mr. President.

Sotto: Accepted. Any objections? Hearing none, adopted as amended.