PHILIPPINE’S FIRST PUBLIC MARKET QR CODE IN AGRI SET IN BAGUIO

April 22, 2023 Community Billboard

BAGUIO CITY

The Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Office (DA-RFO) Cordillera and the Banko Sentral
ng Pilipinas- North Luzon Regional Office (BSP-NLRO) kicked off the setting of the country’s “first Paleng-QR code in the agriculture sector” Tuesday morning. With the signing of a memorandum of Agreement (MOA) at the New Conference Hall of the DA Cordillera here, BSP Deputy Governor for
Regional Operations and Advocacy Sector Bernadette Puyat said, the Paleng-QR PH plus is the first in the country and in the history of BSP.

The program aims to capture the broader target market of the program to expand the digital payment acceptance in every city and municipality in the country. This stage, she added, will expand the program of PalengQR PH plus, which was developed from the Paleng-QR Ph program that was jointly developed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) that was aimed to build the digital payments ecosystem in
the country by promoting cashless payments in public markets and local transportation, particularly tricycles.

The Paleng-QR Ph program highlights the significance of market purchases and local transportation fares as basic components of an average Filipino’s typical payment pattern. The program was inspired by the student policy competition finalists from the University of the Philippines– Los Baños in the 2021 BSP Youth Summit. Puyat said cashless transactions gives more benefits to the people. She said that despite that Covid 19 is not at its worst as before, the
disease is still there and people should be still on the guard, and cashless or digital payment transactions is one of the measures to limit physical engagements between people.

She also said that in digital transactions, the money will be deposited or will go immediately to the account of the people and will no more have to carry cash in his or her bag. She believed that this will help in preventing the distribution or spread of fake money. The program will enable the farmers and other players in the agricultural sector to adapt to the requirements of the modern times in the further development of the farming industry, DA Cordillera Regional Director Cameron Odsey said.

He stressed that if other farmers from the other provinces and places will see the benefits of cashless digital transactions, they will be convinced and will also be engaged in such. The signing was witnessed by farmers, traders, officials from different local government units in the
Cordillera, BSP and the DA.

Artemio A. Dumlao/ABN