TABUK CITY, Kalinga – City Councilor Ivan Yannick Bagayao on September 16 presided a committee meeting on the salient provisions of ordinance enjoining all business establishments and local transportation to adopt QR PH digital payments in line with the Paleng-QR Ph program.
Bagayao said that the use of this QR PH digital payments is a hassle-free payment scheme, and will boost the local economy because it pertains to revenue generation and trade.
As explained by representatives of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Region II namely Emilson Jimenez and Eva Lynne Marcos, this Paleng-QR PH program, jointly developed by the BSP and the Department of the Interior and Local Government aims to build the digital payments ecosystem in the country by promoting cashless payments in public markets and local transportation
Capitalizing on the QR Ph initiative, the program seeks the policy championship and enjoins local government units to push for the acceptance of digital payments among market vendors, community shopkeepers, and tricycle operators and drivers associations (TODAs) here, the BSP representatives added.
Highlighting the significance of market purchases and local transportation fares as basic components of typical payment patterns, the Paleng-QR Ph Plus promotes financial inclusion giving access to financial services from different financial institutions.
Bagayao clarified that the use of cellphones and other digital devices for payment of transactions is optional, and nothing in this ordinance shall prohibit payment in cash when otherwise chosen by the patrons, consumers, buyers, passengers or clients.
It is the counterpart of the city government to enact this program through an ordinance, the official said.
Based on the records of BSP Region II, there are 133 local government units (LGUs) which already launched this program and with policy insurance (3-NCR, 97-Luzon, 21-Visayas,12-Mindanao), and this is first to be launched in Kalinga and Apayao area.
In November 2022, the Paleng-QR Ph Plus program branding was introduced. The use of “Plus” aims to capture the broader target market of the program to expand the digital payment acceptance in every city and municipality in the country. It also better reflects the coverage of ordinances of LGUs that include other business establishments in addition to market vendors and TODAs as specified in the joint memorandum circular issued on 22 June 2022.
Once this ordinance takes effect, the city government shall enter into and sign a Memorandum of Agreement with the chosen qualified financial service providers (FSPs) for the implementation, and the FSPs shall provide personnel, customer assistance booths including QR code print outs to ensure successful conduct of the Paleng-QR Ph program.
The joint committee meeting was sponsored by the Committee on Rules, Committee on Transportation, and Committee on Trade and Industry. By Darwin S. Serion
