BacTrac registration extended

By Dolly Yasa

 

BACOLOD City- Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran said Wednesday that the BacTrac (BaCTrac Contact Tracing System) registration will be extended.

This amid questions from netizens and complaints of difficulty in accessing the BacTrac website.

Familiaran said the extension will be done not through an amendatory ordinance but a moratorium from the Office of the Mayor.

Earlier, the Business Permits and Licensing Division of the Bacolod City Government asked all business establishments to register with the City’s COVID-19 contact tracing app, as they have only 15 days from the effectivity of City Ordinance No. 941 to do so.

CO 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.

CO No. 941 became effective on September 26, after complying with the publication rule for it in a local newspaper.

The 15-day registration period for the app shall, therefore, expire on October 11, after which, sanctions will be levied on late registrants.

The “BaCTrac Contact Tracing System” is a web-based and mobile-based app developed for efficient and expeditious contact tracing of confirmed COVID-19 positive patients in the city and, consequently, allow the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Task Force to easily locate people suspected of having contact with COVID-19 patients.

On September 29, the city government officially launched the app that will enable Bacolod City to use the South Cotabato Covid Contact Tracing System (SC-CCTS), which initially developed the program.

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.

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.