BACOLOD City Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, chairman of Bacolod City Inter-Agency Task Force, reiterated to all business establishment owners that the Bacolod Covid-19 Contract Tracing System (BaCTrac) Ordinance is mandatory for the business establishments or government offices in the city.

Familiaran on Friday, February 5, 2021, said all business establishments should register to the city BaCTrac system and implement it within their building.

“It’s mandatory to all business establishments or they should provide logbook because (BaCTrac) is not mandatory to the private citizens,” he added.

Familiaran said some individuals who are entering business establishments are not from Bacolod City and do not have quick response (QR) codes, thus, the use of logbooks.

He said this after the management of outsourcing firm, Transcom, earlier said they were not aware that the implementation of the BaCTrac system in Bacolod City was mandatory.

Mark Lyndsell, chief executive officer for Global English Region of Transcom Worldwide BV, earlier said this was the reason why the firm, particularly its Bacolod site, was not able to implement the city’s contact tracing system.

It can be recalled that the Emergency Operations Center Task Force (EOC-TF) earlier slapped Transcom with a notice of violation for its failure to implement the BaCTrac System, a day after 41 of its employees tested positive for the coronavirus.

Dr. Chris Sorongon, deputy for medical data and analysis of EOC-TF, also said that “ignorance of the law excuses no one.”

He said City Ordinance 941 or “An Ordinance Implementing the Covid-19 Contact Tracing in the City of Bacolod” was well-published.

He added that Transcom was represented in the second meeting conducted at the EOC sometime in October 2020.

Business establishments that failed to comply will be fined from P1,000, P2,500, up to P5,000 and/or imprisonment for not more than six months for the first, second, third and succeeding offenses, respectively.