BSP sets Baguio as pilot site for cashless payments
>> Saturday, July 23, 2022
CITY HALL BEAT
BAGUIO CITY – This
summer capital is being eyed as pilot site for the “Paleng-QR Ph” program of
the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Department of the Interior and
Local Government (DILG) promoting cashless payments in public markets and local
transportation.
The BSP officials led by Deputy Governor Berna Romulo-Puyat introduced the program to city officials led by Mayor Benjamin Magalong, Councilors Isabelo Cosalan and Peter Fianza and City Treasurer Alex Cabarrubias and stakeholders from the city market in a preliminary consultation held July 13.
Lawyer Guiller Asido, Director Joyce Suficiencia and Regional Director Noel Neil Malimban explained the program which aims to create a digital payments ecosystem making use of existing financial service providers like G-Cash, Paymaya and others to facilitate cashless transactions between merchants and consumers.
Magalong expressed reception to the program being aligned with the city’s digital transformation aspiration.
He said the program will help the city realize its goal of improving its collection system at the city market and stamping out fraudulent activities thereby increasing its revenue.
On the part of the vendors, he said this will also benefit them in terms of speeding up payment and ensuring correctness in transactions.
“Bibillis ang transactions. Di na kayo makukupitan, mamomonitor na ang transactions at hindi nyo na poproblemahin ang barya. Maiiwasan pa ang pagkahawa sa sakit na nakukuha sa paghawak ng pera. On the part of the city government, we will be able to resolve corruption that results to low revenue,” the mayor said as he appealed to vendors to be open to the program.
He assured that the program will not be implemented without preparing the merchants to the new system and without addressing concerns on the prohibitive transaction fees that may be levied by the service providers.
“Tuturuan naming kayong mag-adapt sa process at hindi bibiglain. Uunahin muna yung mga interesado. Makikipag-ugnayan din kami sa mga service providers kung paano natin papagaanin yung charges,” the mayor assured.
***
Mayor Magalong and City Administrator Bonifacio Dela Peña vouched that the city’s drainage system is in good condition and working properly.
He said the drainage infrastructure at Session Road which is a tributary system that drains to the main drainage catchment pipes at the Lake Drive in Burnham Park remain sufficient.
The water accumulated along roadsides is usually caused by the heavy inflow during downpour. There is nothing abnormal as the water pools do not linger long enough to be considered a problem.
The inflow capacity of the drainage inlets is also sufficient but becomes problematic when clogged with debris and litter.
Dela Peña said the city continues to work for the upgrading of the drainage system to solve the flooding problem at the central business district.
The third of the three-phase rehabilitation project started in 2020 with the help of Rep. Marquez Go and the Dept. of Public Works and Highways is almost complete.
The first two phases that cut across Burnham Park were completed in July last year and was tested and found to be working properly when the city experienced days of continuous strong monsoon rains then.
The third phase covering Kisad Road is about to be wrapped up.
For the project, the new technology structured pipe system with Teflon inside walling and electro fusion technology were used for the main drainages instead of the ordinary RC pipes ensuring longer functionality.
As this developed, the city officials reiterated their appeal for residents and tourists to religiously observe proper waste disposal rules to prevent the clogging of canals and drainage inlets.
They also urged contractors undertaking projects especially along the roads to observe proper housekeeping of their aggregates to prevent choking the city’s waterway inlets.
They said efforts to improve the drainage are put to naught if people will not cooperate and irresponsible and indiscriminate throwing of refuse remains unchecked.
The BSP officials led by Deputy Governor Berna Romulo-Puyat introduced the program to city officials led by Mayor Benjamin Magalong, Councilors Isabelo Cosalan and Peter Fianza and City Treasurer Alex Cabarrubias and stakeholders from the city market in a preliminary consultation held July 13.
Lawyer Guiller Asido, Director Joyce Suficiencia and Regional Director Noel Neil Malimban explained the program which aims to create a digital payments ecosystem making use of existing financial service providers like G-Cash, Paymaya and others to facilitate cashless transactions between merchants and consumers.
Magalong expressed reception to the program being aligned with the city’s digital transformation aspiration.
He said the program will help the city realize its goal of improving its collection system at the city market and stamping out fraudulent activities thereby increasing its revenue.
On the part of the vendors, he said this will also benefit them in terms of speeding up payment and ensuring correctness in transactions.
“Bibillis ang transactions. Di na kayo makukupitan, mamomonitor na ang transactions at hindi nyo na poproblemahin ang barya. Maiiwasan pa ang pagkahawa sa sakit na nakukuha sa paghawak ng pera. On the part of the city government, we will be able to resolve corruption that results to low revenue,” the mayor said as he appealed to vendors to be open to the program.
He assured that the program will not be implemented without preparing the merchants to the new system and without addressing concerns on the prohibitive transaction fees that may be levied by the service providers.
“Tuturuan naming kayong mag-adapt sa process at hindi bibiglain. Uunahin muna yung mga interesado. Makikipag-ugnayan din kami sa mga service providers kung paano natin papagaanin yung charges,” the mayor assured.
***
Mayor Magalong and City Administrator Bonifacio Dela Peña vouched that the city’s drainage system is in good condition and working properly.
He said the drainage infrastructure at Session Road which is a tributary system that drains to the main drainage catchment pipes at the Lake Drive in Burnham Park remain sufficient.
The water accumulated along roadsides is usually caused by the heavy inflow during downpour. There is nothing abnormal as the water pools do not linger long enough to be considered a problem.
The inflow capacity of the drainage inlets is also sufficient but becomes problematic when clogged with debris and litter.
Dela Peña said the city continues to work for the upgrading of the drainage system to solve the flooding problem at the central business district.
The third of the three-phase rehabilitation project started in 2020 with the help of Rep. Marquez Go and the Dept. of Public Works and Highways is almost complete.
The first two phases that cut across Burnham Park were completed in July last year and was tested and found to be working properly when the city experienced days of continuous strong monsoon rains then.
The third phase covering Kisad Road is about to be wrapped up.
For the project, the new technology structured pipe system with Teflon inside walling and electro fusion technology were used for the main drainages instead of the ordinary RC pipes ensuring longer functionality.
As this developed, the city officials reiterated their appeal for residents and tourists to religiously observe proper waste disposal rules to prevent the clogging of canals and drainage inlets.
They also urged contractors undertaking projects especially along the roads to observe proper housekeeping of their aggregates to prevent choking the city’s waterway inlets.
They said efforts to improve the drainage are put to naught if people will not cooperate and irresponsible and indiscriminate throwing of refuse remains unchecked.
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