Cotabato City is now part of the Paleng-QR Ph Plus program of the government that promotes digital payments through quick response (QR) codes in markets and public transport hubs.
The program launch was led by Cotabato City Mayor Mohammad Ali “Bruce” D. Matabalao, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Mindanao Regional Office (MRO) Director Judith G. Dolot, and Ministry of the Interior and Local Government (MILG) City Director Muhammad Farzieh B. Abutazil.
The official launch was held last November 15 at the City Arcade, SK Pendatun Avenue in Cotabato City.
In a recorded message, BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona, Jr. welcomed Cotabato City to the roster of local governments participating in the program. “We look forward to another successful rollout of the Paleng-QR Ph Plus program as it empowers your community and eventually the whole nation,” the BSP governor said in his statement.
The Paleng-QR PH program is a joint program of the BSP and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) that aims to build the digital payments ecosystem in the country by promoting cashless payments in public markets and local transportation, particularly tricycles. It promotes QR technology as a convenient, safe, and efficient payment system.
Capitalizing on the QR Ph initiative, the program seeks the policy championship and enjoins local government units (LGUs) to push for the acceptance of digital payments among market vendors, community shopkeepers, and tricycle operators and drivers (TODA) in all cities and municipalities in the country.
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. Until a market vendor and tricycle driver can accept digital payments, transitioning to cashless transactions would be difficult for an average Filipino consumer.
The program was inspired by the student policy competition finalists from the University of the Philippines–Los Baños in the 2021 BSP Youth Summit.
Financial service providers support the launch by assisting vendors and public transport drivers, helping open their accounts, printing their QR codes, and attending to various other customer service needs.
Cotabato is the first city in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and the thirteenth local government unit (LGU) to launch Paleng-QR Ph Plus in its markets and transport hubs. The other LGUs are Baguio, Davao, Tagbilaran, Naga, Lapu-Lapu, Pasig, Carmona, Bacolod, Camiling, Victorias, Mandaue, and Ozamiz.
Unfit and mutilated banknotes and coins in exchange for e-money
Along with the launch of Paleng-QR Ph Plus, the BSP conducted its “Piso Caravan” at the City Arcade to enable Cotabateños and Bangsamoro residents to redeem their unfit and mutilated banknotes and coins with digital cash or e-money.
The Piso Caravan is part of the BSP’s program to maintain the Philippine currency’s integrity and to strengthen coin recirculation in the country.
For more information on the “Piso Caravan” and other public information campaigns in Mindanao, the public may contact the Regional Economic Affairs Staff of the BSP Mindanao Regional Office at this telephone number: (082) 227-9051. They can also send an e-mail to this address: aligsaozs@bsp.gov.ph.
