Car assemblers have joined in the clamor for more public consultation on the planned implementation of the radio frequency identification (RFID) on motor vehicles stressing there are issues that need to be clarified as there ware no consultations conducted on RFID.

Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) president Elizabeth H. Lee said they were surprised with the information ads that came out because they were not consulted about it.

“Perhaps to better appreciate RFID, we would like to clarify RFID objectives, advantages, disadvantages, and target market taking into consideration the comments of all stakeholders,” Lee said.

Various sectors, particularly the public transport groups have opposed the tagging of vehicles saying this will violate individual’s privacy.

RFID is a technology that incorporates the use of electromagnetic or electrostatic coupling in the radio frequency portion of the electromagnetic spectrum to uniquely identify an object, animal, or person.

The new system involves the tagging of a sticker on all vehicles.

The sticker contains a microchip that will store vehicle information which can only be retrieved by authorized Land Transportation Office personnel and law enforcers, thereby eliminating tampering.

Motorists will only pay a one-time tagging fee of P350 as they register their vehicles. The LTO’s RFID tag is expected to last for 10 years, which mean that the RFID effectively costs just P35 per year.

For his part, Assistant Secretary Arturo Lomibao assured the public that the RFID project does not intend to invade anyone’s privacy and is envisioned to promote public safety and vehicle security.

Lomibao said the RFID system allows electronic verification of vehicle identity and data, which are already stipulated in the official receipt and certificate of registration and not the personal information of the owner such as the contact numbers and address.

“It was never the intention of LTO to create a tracking or monitoring system that will invade privacy of the vehicle owners. Our main concern is to enhance capability of LTO to ensure compliance of government regulations,” Lomibao said.

“The public has nothing to fear about the RFID technology especially if they are not violating any laws or traffic regulations,” he explained.

Lomibao assured the public the LTO will implement strict protocols to ensure that only authorized enforcers will be able to retrieve information from the RFID tags. Lomibao explained that it is impossible for enforcers to track the movement of the motor-vehicle owners because the hand reader can only detect vehicles which are within a 10- to 20-meters radius from where the enforcer is located