The core team of the Department of Science and Technology Western Visayas (DOST 6) that developed a travel management system and helped control the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) at the height of the health pandemic received the highest recognition afforded by the Civil Service Commission to outstanding government workers.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. conferred the Presidential Lingkod Bayan Award to the team composed of DOST 6 Regional Director Engineer Rowen R. Gelonga as team leader and Science Research Specialists II Garry Tayona Balinon and Ryan Vilmor Joseph Dumpit in a ceremony in Malacañang on Wednesday for developing the Safe, Swift, and Smart Passage (S-PaSS) system.

S-PaSS was piloted in Western Visayas and later on, adopted by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Infectious Diseases as a one-stop-shop travel application and communication platform and eventually implemented by the Department of Transportation in airports, seaports, and terminals nationwide.

“As we have reported, during the time that we have been extensively using the S-PaSS all over the country, more than 93 percent of our local government units in all the regions of the country used the S-PaSS. And approximately eight million Filipinos used the S-PaSS as a system for facilitating their travel across the country,” said Gelonga in an interview Thursday.

He added that the system is available for immediate use should a similar situation happen.

“We are developing another version and have it repurposed so that it can be used as a tourism management system,” he said.

Gelonga said it was a great honor on their part to be recognized, which is also an opportunity to showcase that those from the regions and the provinces can also come up with solutions with simple innovations without relying on their central office.

The awardees received a gold-gilded medallion crafted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, a Presidential plaque containing the citation and signature of the President, PHP100,000 each for each awardee, and a promotion.

Another awardee of the Lingkod Bayan from Western Visayas included Prof. Julie Ann Salido of the Aklan State University for her research projects supported by the DOST, particularly related to marine transportation. (PNA)