Baguio pushes for cashless fares

We found out that money became a vehicle for the transmission and that is the reason why we have several cases wherein cashiers, taxi drivers, billing clerks were infected

BAGUIO CITY — In a bid to stop chances for the further spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) through transmission, Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong is pushing for the adoption of a cashless payment system in the city starting with public transportation.

Magalong recently signed a Memorandum of Agreement with and SquidPay Chief Operating Officer and President Enrico Tamayo to provide the City Government and its customers access to its payment collections service while no transaction fees and upfront costs will be charged for the installation and implementation of the system.

For its part, the City Government will encourage cashless transactions through the company’s system which facilitates online and offline payment system for automated fare collections, bills payment, e-commerce payments, merchant payment services and electronic loading through tap cards, nearfield communication (NFC) or QR codes.

The program, which will first cover fare collections, was initiated by engagements with the transport sector since 24 June through seminars and walk-through sessions to familiarize operators and drivers with the system.

SquidPay Account Executive Officer Elmar Panganiban said that in preparation for rolling out the program, they conducted seminars with the different public utility jeepney, taxi and UV Express associations.

“The reason why we are very aggressive in pursuing (the digitalized financial transaction program) is because when we were doing our analysis in the series of infections in the city of Baguio, we found out that money became a vehicle for the transmission and that is the reason why we have several cases wherein cashiers, taxi drivers, billing clerks were infected,” Magalong said.

The financial transaction system, which is a part of the “Smart City” and the “Baguio in my Pocket” digital transformation project of the city, can also be used as a contact tracing tool through the use of its registration features.

Magalong added that the city is on the right track in pursuing a contactless fare payment system considering the alarming increase in the number of transport workers infected by the virus. Although most of those affected are in the railway business which Baguio City currently does not have, the public utility vehicle sector remains at risk for using direct payment schemes as physical interactions could potentially spread the disease further.

He urged residents to embrace the contactless system as a way of coping with the threat of the virus and the “new normal” way of life.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JONAS REYES FOR THE DAILY TRIBUNE A MEMBER of the media gets swabbed at the Swabbing Facility in Subic Bay Freeport Zone on Thursday to check for the possibility of coronavirus infection. He was among those people who covered the commissioning of BRP Jose Rizal at the Alava Wharf last week where a staff member of the Department of National Defense was found positive of the dreaded respiratory disease.