CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY –— As soon as the dry run is done and glitches are fixed, the City Government will implement the ‘No Quick Response (QR) Code No Entry’ policy in all establishments here.
This is in consonance with the City Ordinance No. 14023-2021 approved by the City Council and the executive order issued by City Mayor Oscar Moreno; The dry run will be until April 7, Wednesday.
Under the said ordinance, all establishments are mandated to scan the QR codes of all individuals who would want to enter their establishments.
It also required the public to register to the Higala Application – where they can get their QR codes, absence of such code means no entry to all establishments.
The city government announced the bold move on march 31, but it was met with criticisms and adverse reactions as it encountered technical glitches.
Netizens complained about difficulty to access the site and inability to access the link provided.
One netizen stressed “Your site doesn’t work. Do something to make it work, otherwise do not fully implement it by April 1.”
However, the City Management Information System Office addressed the concern in the hope of resuming the registration process in preparation for the full implementation of the QR Code system.
Moreno in a press briefing explained that the challenge started with the volume of registrants which resulted to the slow processing
“Ang nahitabo man gud ani, nagdagsa ba. Nagdagsa. Dili lang ta magpanic [What happened was, the volume was unexpected, but do not panic) the Mayor emphasized.
The Higala App was launched on August 2020, the City Government continues to invite all residents to register but there was lukewarm reception until the city decide to make it mandatory
The QR Code system is meant to help the government in contact tracing suspected Covid-19 patients easier and will also be used in its vaccination program.
Under the Ordinance, establishments found violating the law will be penalized to pay P1,000 and suspension of business permit for one month during the first offense; P3,000 and suspension of business permit for three months for the second offense and P5,000 and revocation of business permit for the third offense.
Individuals can also be penalized if they use the QR codes of others or misrepresentation, or by using fake QR codes; P500 for the first offense, P1,000 for the second offense and P1,500 for the third offense.
The establishments that were mandated to implement the said ordinance include malls, supermarket, hotels, accommodation establishments, stores and other establishment that are frequented by many people.
As March 31, about 571,000 individuals and more than 900 establishments have registered with the Higala App,
The Higala App can accommodate up to 1,000 individuals per hour or close to 17 individuls per minute, as the city provided 19 registration sites. -Franck Rosete
