THE City Government of Bacolod will launch Tuesday, March 14, the Paleng-QR Ph program at the Libertad Public Market, City Administrator Atty. Pacifico Maghari III said Monday, March 13.
Maghari said the activity will be led by Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, Deputy Governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), and Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez.
He said they now have various partners, such as Gcash, PayMaya Philippines, the Land Bank of the Philippines, and Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC).
"It’s the government's program to encourage the public to go cashless for easy transactions in the markets," he added.
Maghari noted that this will be implemented in three big public markets in the city.
The City Council earlier approved City Ordinance No. 1019, where the city will adopt the QR PH Digital Payments to all business establishments and local transportation in line with the Paleng-QR PH Program.
On June 22, 2022, the BSP and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) released a Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) No. 1 Series of 2022 on the Paleng-QR, which established guidelines enjoining Local Government Units’ (LGUs) participation in the Paleng-QR Ph Program, in which the letter from the BSP informed that the Bacolod LGU has been included in their priority list to launch this program.
Maghari said this program aims to build the digital payments ecosystem by promoting cashless payments in public markets including transportation.
"We have participants for the launch of the program, but it’s also open to all the vendors in the area," he said.
He added that the public markets, sari-sari store owners, Tricycle Operators and Drivers Associations (TODAs)/local transportations and other local merchants in Bacolod City should make QR Payments available to their customers, in line with the Paleng-QR Ph Program.
Maghari disclosed that this will be considered the first Paleng-QR launch in Western Visayas.*