TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan (PIA) – – The local government of Santa Ana in Cagayan province takes pride as the first municipality in the Cagayan Valley Region to implement the ‘Paleng-QR Ph program’.
During the launch held recently at the Santa Ana Public Market, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) North Luzon Office Regional Director Atty. Noel Neil Malimban said that the ‘Paleng-QR Ph program’ was jointly developed by the BSP and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), which aims to build the digital payments ecosystem in the country by promoting cashless payments in public markets and local transportation, particularly tricycles.
Malimban said that capitalizing on the QR Ph initiative, the program seeks the policy championship and enjoins local government units (LGUs) to push for the acceptance of digital payments among market vendors, community shopkeepers, and tricycle operators and drivers (TODA) in all cities and municipalities in the country.
“This is not the future, instead, this is already our present,” Malimban further said.
The BSP official also said that with cashless transactions, their aim is to enable more Filipinos to thrive in this digital era.
“Sa tulong nito, maari nang maiwasan ang pagtanggap ng pekeng pera at pagkuha ng mga sakit,” he added.
(With the Paleng-QR, accepting fake money and getting diseases can be avoided.)
DILG Assistant Regional Director Elpidio Duruin said that this is an important step to achieving the goal of the local government’s efforts towards digitalization.
“This shows that we continue providing support to LGUs. This way, we are empowering our small vendors to adopt cashless transactions in our efforts to boost digitalization in how they do business,” Duruin said.
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Acting Regional Director Winston Singun, for his part, said that the program is a win-win for both merchants and consumers.
As an initial step, Singun said that the DTI organized the orientation for its regional and provincial Consumer Protection Division (CPD) personnel to have a thorough knowledge of the project to effectively engage stakeholders and ensure successful adoption and implementation.
Michael Villamin, municipal local government operations officer, expressed his gratitude to then SK Federation President Philip Castillo for passing an ordinance for the implementation of ‘Paleng-QR Ph program’ in the municipality.
With the launching of ‘Paleng-QR Ph program’ in the municipality, market vendors may now receive cashless payments via QR codes displayed on their stalls.
On the other hand, also present during the launch were representatives from DICT, local government unit, market vendors, and barangay officials. (MDCT/PIA Cagayan)
