TACLOBAN CITY – The suggestion of City Mayor Alfred Romualdez for highly-urbanized cities (HUCs) in the country to implement QR code system was considered favorably by an official of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to help address the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.
Romualdez made the suggestion during a virtual Networking Briefing program of Presidential Communication and Operations Office Secretary Martin Andanar who had Interior Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya as guest.
“Sana gawing mandatory sa lahat ng HUCs na magkaroon ng QR code because you can monitor the movements of the people” Romualdez said to Usec. Malaya.
“I don’t want to make it difficult for the public but we have to address the issue immediately and make it effective,” Romualdez said.
Replying to the proposal of the city mayor, USec. Malaya said that they will closely study his proposal.
“We will study your proposal closely. I will talk to our regional directors to take a look at this and find a different system for HUCs,” Malaya said.
Malaya added that he will also inform the Inter-Agency Task Force of this suggestion of Mayor Romualdez.
The city government has enforced its own QR Code dubbed as surveillance, contact tracing, analysis, and networking (SCAN) system starting on July 16.
SCAN is a digital platform for COVID-19 surveillance activities for the systematic collection, analysis, storage, and dissemination of information, specifically the name, address, and contact details of the registrant so that public health officers can use the same for immediate responses.
Those who want to enter Tacloban must register online through its Safe City application that can be downloaded for free at https://safecity.tacloban.gov.
The registrants are given unique SCAN cards or QR codes that can be scanned as identification before entry at every participating office, establishment, or industry.
Since implementation, all establishments in Tacloban including churches had imposed a “no entry” policy for those who do not have a QR code.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)
