DAVAO City Council approved on the third and final reading on November 22, 2022 a city ordinance that would provide all business establishments in the city with QR code for digital payments, known as PalengQR PH.
“Ang tumong ani is ang atoang mga informal sector, mga vendors nato, mga tao nga naa sa palengke, mga traysikel driver maka-adopt sila sa digital payment, nga naa silay sariling digital platform (This will give opportunity those in the informal sector – vendors and tricycle driver – to adopt the digital payment, this will serve as their own digital platform),” Davao City Councilor Bernie Al-ag, chairperson for Committee on trade, commerce, and industry, said in an interview at Sanguniang Panglungsod on November 22, 2022.
Al-ag said the project is in collaboration with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
“Gipasayo nato ang programa, gipasayo nato ang pag-apply ani, and we want all businesses sa Davao City, kahit katong pinakagamay na negosyante, kahit katong balut vendor naa silay (We are launching the project early and we made the application early. We want all businesses in the city, including balut vendors, to have a) digital platform where they can accept digital payment ,” he said.
The PalengQR will be launched on November 23, 20223 at the Bankerohan Public Market.
Al-ag said bank executives will visit the public markets to offer account openings for free, and afterwards, a QR code will be released to the vendors who have applied.
“Ang kaning QR code, nakaprint ni siya, ilaha lang ni isabit sa ilahang mga tindahan para maka-accept sila og digital payment (this QR code will be printed and they just have to hang it at their stall so that they can accept digital payment),” Al-ag said.
He said vendors who have rented spaces in the commercial buildings of the city government will receive an incentive in the form of free rent for a day if they will join the program.
“Katong mga walay renta sa gobyerno wala silay incentive but ang true incentive gyud ani nila is modaghan ilahang mga customer kay daghan naman karun ang mga wala nagadala og cash, naa na gyud sa digital wallet (If you are not renting with the government, you will not enjoy any of the incentives. The incentive you get from this (PalengQR) is increased number of customers because there are now a lot of people who are going cashless),” Al-ag said.
In a separate interview with SunStar Davao on November 22, Atty. Tet Dillera, staff of Al-ag clarified that the payment scheme for the consumers is either through Gcash or Paymaya. Consumers may also pay via online bank transaction if QR payment is available. KSD