The Business Permits and Licensing Division of the Bacolod City Government is advising all business establishments to register with the City’s COVID-19 contact tracing app within 15 days or else face sanction.
Executive Director of Emergency Operations Center, City Administrator Em Ang said that the “BaCTrac Contact Tracing System” is a web-based and mobile-based app developed for the efficient and expeditious contact tracing of confirmed COVID-19 positive patients in the city.
City Ordinance No. 941, or the “COVID-19 Contact Tracing System Ordinance of Bacolod City” authored by Councilor Lady Gles Pallen, president of the Liga ng mga Barangay, covers all business establishments, government offices, residents, and visitors within the territorial jurisdiction of Bacolod City, including public utilities and spaces, such as but not limited to, public markets, public terminals and public transport.
The 15-day registration period for the app expires on October 11, after which, sanctions will be levied on late registrants, Ang said.
Through the scheme adopted by the city from South Cotabato, the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Task Force can easily locate people suspected of having contact with COVID-19 patients.
To facilitate the app’s use, Bacolod City residents and visitors into the City will be required to register online in the BaCTrac system. To register, one can visit www.bacolodcity.gov.ph and access the BaCTrac page, Ang added.
She explained that upon registration, an individual will be issued a BaCTrac Card which contains his/her name, address, identification number, and a uniquely assigned quick response (QR) code.
Business and government establishments will also be required to download the mobile app’s “CCTS Logger” on Google Store to be able to scan BaCTrac cards.
The cards will be used to sign in to a digital logbook, through scanning the QR code, upon entry into government premises or private establishments for the purpose of recording the date and time of visit.
Failure to register within the prescribed period will be penalized in accordance with Section 13 of CO No. 941.
Under the ordinance, penalties ranging from P1,000, P2,500, and P5,000 and/or imprisonment for not more than six months for the first, second, and third and succeeding offenses, respectively, await private establishments and government offices that fail to comply.
The same range of penalties shall be meted out to individuals who will use the BaCTrac Card of another person upon entry into government premises or business establishments in Bacolod City.
(Dolly Yasa via The Daily Guardian, photo courtesy by Bacolod City Public Information Office)