Republic of the Philippines
House of Representatives

NINETEENTH CONGRESS
Third Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 10900

Introduced by Rep. Luisa Lloren Cuaresma
Lone District of Nueva Vizcaya

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The State adheres to the principle that public office trust and inherent in this principle
is the judicious and responsible stewardship in the utilization of the government's resources.

Section 1 of Article XI, of the 1987 Constitution states that, “Public officers and
employees must, at all times, be accountable to the people, serve them with utmost
responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and efficiency; act with patriotism and justice, and lead
modest lives.”

The mandatory installation of Global Positioning System (GPS herein after) device in
all government owned vehicle from the national government to the local government units
will first and foremost allow government agencies, institutions and its subdivisions including
government hospitals to detect, monitor and investigate movements in real-time of
government owned vehicles to ensure that it is being used for the purposes granted to it by
law.

Further, Section 27 of Article II of the 1987 Constitution provides, “The State shall
maintain honesty and integrity in the public service and take positive and effective measures
against graft and corruption.

Pursuant to REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7638, it is a declared policy of the State to ensure
a continuous, adequate, reliable and economic supply of energy through the judicious
conservation, renewal and efficient utilization of energy, to keep pace with the country’s
growth and economic development. Therefore, the need to strengthen the government’s
effort against the use of government vehicles for the purposes other than official business in
line with the government’s energy saving and anti-graft and corruption campaigns.

The satellite tracking of GPS keeps government employees honest. The knowledge
that they can be tracked by GPS discourages drivers or public officers from making
inappropriate use of the government owned vehicles. The GPS is also an effective way to
create and calculate more efficient routes thereby invariably decreasing gas consumption and
cost of vehicle maintenance.


Lastly, Section 5 of Article II of the 1987 Constitution provides, “The maintenance
of peace and order, the protection of life, liberty, and property, and promotion of the general
welfare are essential for the enjoyment by all the people of the blessings of democracy.”

The installation of GPS is one of the most efficient and cost-effective way for the law
enforcers and emergency responders to immediately act upon the reported crime or
emergency, assist them in their crime investigation, keep officers and citizens safe, enable
situational awareness and provide evidence for trial for any official proceedings.

The GPS as a vehicle tracking system also assist in theft prevention and recovery of
stolen government owned vehicles. The knowledge that GPS, a monitoring and retrieval
device is installed in the unit can greatly dissuade a driver or public officer from enacting
criminal activity using government vehicles. When used as security system, the GPS
provides a reliable addition to the vehicle’s alarm. The existence of vehicle tracking device
then can be used to reduce the insurance cost, because the loss-risk of the vehicle drops
significantly.

In the event that a crime gets consummated especially in cases of emergency, the GPS
aids in law enforcement and emergency response. Police and emergency responders can
simply follow the signal emitted by the tracking system and locate the crime scene or
emergency.

Apprehending responsible persons in such crimes has always been difficult, if not
nearly impossible, For our law enforcers because of lack of comprehensive, precise evidence
for leads. Through the approval of this bill, such limitation will be downright addressed.

Thus, the GPS device help public officer to respond quickly to deter crimes, respond
to emergency, assist in investigations, promotes accountability of public officers,
transparency, provides audit trails that speed up proceedings, declog court dockets and aid in
administration of justice in various types of interaction that law enforcer performs on a daily
basis that protects not only the law enforcers but citizens alike.

In view of the foregoing, the passage of this bill is earnestly sought.

” JUISA LLOREN CUARESMA


Republic of the Philippines
House of Representatives

NINETEENTH CONGRESS
Third Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No. 10900

Introduced by Rep. Luisa Lloren Cuaresma
Lone District of Nueva Vizcaya

AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE MANDATORY INSTALLATION OF GPS
TRACKING DEVICE IN ALL GOVERNMENT OWNED VEHICLES IN THE
COUNTRY TO PROMOTE TRANSPARENCY, TO AID ADMINISTRATION OF
JUSTICE AND TO PROTECT CITIZENS AND PUBLIC OFFICERS ALIKE AND
APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title — This Act shall be known as the “GPS Tracking Device
Act”

SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy - The State adheres to the principle that public
office is a public trust and inherent in this principle is the judicious and responsible
stewardship in the utilization of the government’s resourced. Thus, there is a need to
strengthen the government’s effort against the use of government vehicles for purposes other
than official business in line with the government’s emergency saving and anti-graft and
corruption campaign.

SECTION 3. Definition of Terms — For the purpose of this Act, the following terms
shall be used under the definition provided hereof, to wit:

(a) Global Positioning System (GPS)- a space based satellite navigation system that
provides location and time information in all weather conditions, anywhere on or
near the Earth where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS
satellites;

(b) Government owned vehicles — shall mean any vehicle owned by the government
that is propelled by any power other than muscular power using the public
highways, but excepting road rollers, trolley cars, street-sweepers, sprinklers, lawn
mowers, bulldozers, graders, fork-lifts, amphibian trucks, and cranes if not used on
public highways and roads.


(c) Public office — the “owner” of a government-owned motor vehicle is the head of
the office or the chief of Bureau to which the said motor vehicle belongs.

(d) Public officer — the person who is assigned by the government to use government
owned vehicle.

(c) Tipwire Early Warning — the feature of the GPS device to five the vehicle owner
timely alerts if the vehicle moved when the owner does not intend it to move.

SECTION 4, Mandatory Installation of GPS — All government agencies,
Institutions and subdivisions are required to install a GPS device in every unit vehicle a
government office presently owns/operates or will own/operate in the future.

SECTION 5. Monitoring — Each government agency, institution and subdivision
shall conduct regular ocular inspection after lapse of two (2) months from the promulgation
of this Act to comply with the requirement of installing GPS device in all their units.

SECTION 6. Unannounced Inspection — Authorized personnel of each government
agency, institution and subdivisions, the Department of Interior and Local Government and
the Commission on Audit may conduct unannounced or surprise inspections to ensure
compliance of this Act and to ensure that travel orders submitted by the public officers
matches the GPS data.

SECTION 7. Specifications to Consider — For the purpose of this Act, the following
shall be considered in procuring GPS device.

(a) Instant Crash Notification

(b) Tipwire Early Warning

(c) Stolen Vehicle Location Assist

(d) Vehicle Location Assist

(©) Recording limits

(f) Geofencing

(g) Tracking idle time

(h) Weather resistant

(i) Data storage

(j) Encryption and other security features necessary to protect the GPS device and the
data storage.

(k) Control number assigned to each unit shall also be accounted for audit and control
purposes.

SECTION 8. Training - Proper training on policies and equipment is a must. The
implementing agency should not only be for installation of the GPS device but also for the
law enforcer’s perceptions of the device. Public officers should understand that the primary
purpose of GPS device is for transparency, reliable audit trail, evidence collection and officer
and citizen’s safety. Public officers will need to understand they are prohibited to use
government owned vehicles for purposes other than official business.


SECTION 9. Data Storage and Management — For the purpose of this Act, the following
data storage and management must be considered:

(a) Storage issues, such as how long and who has access to the recordings;

(b) Not only must the data be protected and backed up regularly, it must be accessible to
all parties involved;

(c) Crime recordings must be managed by law and through policies and may retained for
a default period of time to cover potential performance complaints; and

(d) Policies should control the period of time this data is maintained. As recordings
become more or less important to the government agency, adjustments need to be
made; and

(e) The Head of the government agency, institution or subdivision may review the GPS
data they have taken provided that they are accompanied by the custodian at all times.
Provided further, they may review only for the purposes intended by this Act.

Database must protect data at all times with evidence encryption. An audit trail is
created that shows who used the vehicle, the purpose of the use of vehicle, the time and date
use and returned will not only be useful as evidence in aid of administration of justice but to
ensure accountability of public officers.

SECTION 10. Allowed Use and Disclosure - the use, viewing, copying, or
disclosure of GPS data obtained pursuant to the purposes of this Act shall only be allowed in
any of the following circumstances:

(a) Use, viewing, copying or disclosure to a member or public officer in connection with
and limited to the investigation or prosecution of an offense punishable by law or
regulation;

(b) Use, viewing, copying, or disclosure in connection with any pending criminal,
administrative or civil proceeding shall be allowed provided that it is accompanied by
a request from a judge, quasi-judicial body or head of the law enforcement agency; or

(©) Viewing of persons to determine whether or not an offense was committed against
their person or property, to ascertain the identity of a criminal perpetrator, and to
determine the manner by which the offense was perpetrated may be allowed provided
that they acquire permit from the department head where the data is stored. Provided
further, they shall be accompanied by the custodian at all times.

SECTION 11. Admissibility as Evidence — For the purposes mentioned in this Act,
the data taken from the GPS shall be admissible as evidence civil, administrative, criminal or
any official proceedings without prejudice to the Rules on Evidence and other special laws.

Certificate of Authenticity or any of the following stated in SECTION 12 hereof shall
be attached to the records in any proceedings without prejudice to the Rules on Evidence and
other special laws.

SECTION 12. Manner of Authentication — Before any data taken from GPS offered
as authentic is received in evidence, its authenticity must be proved by any of the following
means:


(a) By evidence that it had taken by the person purported to have taken the same;
(b) By Certificate of Authenticity issued by law enforcement agency to certify its
authenticity shall be sign by all of the following:

(1) GPS Custodian; and
(2) Department head where the data is being stored.

(c) By other appropriate security procedures or devices as may be authorized by the
Supreme Court or by law for authentication of electronic data are applied to the GPS
data taken; or

(d) By other evidence showing its integrity and reliability to the satisfaction of the judge.

SECTION 13. Implementing Rules and Regulations - Within ninety (90) days
from the effectivity of this Act, the implementing agencies, government institutions and
subdivisions in consultation with appropriate government agencies and other stakeholders
shall promulgate the necessary rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the
purpose of this Act.

SECTION 14. Penal Clause — Altering, destroying, suppressing or concealing
recorded GPS data with intent to impair its verity, authenticity, legibility, availability or
admissibility as evidence in any investigation of or official proceedings in, civil, criminal, or
administrative cases shall be punishable with imprisonment of not exceeding one (1) year, or
a fine not exceeding ten thousand pesos (P10,000.00), or both without prejudice to other
civil, criminal and administrative liabilities that may arise therefrom.

SECTION 15. Appropriations- Each government institutions, agencies and
subdivisions shall immediately include the operationalization of the GPS device, the funding
of which shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.

SECTION 16. Separability Clause - Should any provision of this Act be
subsequently declared unconstitutional, the same shall not affect the validity or the legality of
he other provisions.

SECTION 17. Effectivity Clause - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after
its publication in the Official Gazette or newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,