CamNorte ComNet pushes online information caravan amid COVID-19

DAET, Camarines Norte, July 15 (PIA) — The Camarines Norte Communicators Network (CNCN) pushed for an online information caravan during its meeting spearheaded by the Philippine Information Agency – Provincial Information Center in partnership with the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) through Google Meet held July 10.

Information Center Manager Rosalita B. Manlangit discussed with the group the innovations for the online information caravan which is one of the activities needed to be undertaken to localize the National Communications Plan on COVID-19.

The said communications plan was prepared by the Inter-Agency Task-Force on Emerging Infectious Disease (IATF), National Task Force – COVID-19 and Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO).

To localize the communication plan in the local level, the ComNet agreed to launch its first online information caravan this year under the new normal through the online platform, particularly via Google Meet and Facebook Live. The ComNet  also planned to perform the pilot testing in the town of Paracale.

Information about the online caravan will be aired through DWCN-FM and Radyo-Natin Paracale.

The organization also identified the primary audience in the online information caravan in Paracale and in every town particularly the municipal mayor, ABC municipal president and barangay officials.

The ComNet headed by its President Election Officer/Speaker’s Bureau Chief Rommel R. Pajarin of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) along with other national government agency officials and public information officers will discuss the various government efforts in tackling COVID-19, programs and services at the barangay level.

It will be recalled that the ComNet has already slated the information caravan in Paracale last March but was postponed due to the pandemic.

The group had already conducted five information caravans in the towns of Vinzons, Capalonga, Mercedes and Paracale in 2018 and in Basud last year.

In the earlier part of the meeting, the Philippine National Public Key Infrastructure (PNPKI) was discussed by Ma. Peñafrancia Nepomuceno, provincial team leader and Engr. Ralph B. De la Torre from DICT.

The Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is a system of processes, technologies and policies which allows encryption and signing of data.

The PNPKI uses the concepts of cryptography and digital certificates to provide a security mechanism to protect data in transit similar to online communications or even those at rest like data in storage. Its main components are cryptography and digital certificates for the agency and individuals.

The DICT also discussed the legal basis for e-signatures, among these are Electronic Act of 2000 or RA 8792, PKI under EO 810 series of 2009, Supreme Court Rules on Electronic Evidence or A.M. No. 01-7-01-SC, Department Circular No. 006 or Guidelines on the application and issuance of PNPKI digital certificates for external clients during the state of public health emergency.

Nepomuceno stressed that the use of PNPKI digital certificates will allow for paperless transactions and remote approval of signatories in the government. This will reduce red tape, therefore enforcing the Ease of Doing Business Act of 2018.

The adoption of PNPKI aims to strengthen e-government security through its implementation in all government offices and supply digital certificate to the citizens.

The ComNet meeting was participated by 28 provincial directors, chiefs and managers as well as public and municipal information officers from the national government agencies, government owned and controlled corporations, and local government units. (RBManlangit-PIA5/Camarines Norte)