Abbu supports proposal to suspend QR code ordinance

Councilor Jose Pepe S. Abbu, Jr. on Monday expressed his support for the proposal of Councilor Roger G. Abaday to amend or suspend the Higala App Ordinance also known as the QR Code ordinance.

In his reaction to the special report of Councilor Abaday during the 13th regular session presided over by City Vice Mayor Jocelyn B. Rodriguez, Councilor Abbu said the purpose of requiring the QR code is for contact tracing. He said even the national government also hired contact tracers to track suspected COVID-19 positive patients. “So, what is the use of this QR Code?”, Councilor Abbu asked.

Since the city has now low COVID-19 cases, Councilor Abbu opined that there is no need for the city to continue implementing the QR Code system.

For her part, Councilor Maria Lourdes S. Gaane, chair of the City Council committee on health and health insurance, manifested that it was the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for COVID-19 that recommended the implementation of the QR Code.

She said the IATF notified that there is no directive yet from the national government for the suspension of the QR Code.

“Considering that we are now implementing minimum public health standards siguropwederanato ma suspend ang atong QR Code,” she stressed.

Councilor Gaane assured the legislative body that her committee will thoroughly discuss this matter with concerned agencies, particularly the local IATF.

The proposal of Councilor Abaday was referred to the joint committees on health and on education respectively chaired by Councilors Gaane and Suzette M. Daba for further discussion. (JBDacer/SP)