Dagupan City logs 1K daily entries from outside Pangasinan

THE CITY government here has recorded over 1,000 individuals entering the locality from outside Pangasinan daily since it started the quick response (QR) code registration on October 12. In an interview on Friday, City Information and Communications Technology Office head Gideon Ymasa said some 4,600 individuals have so far registered to enter the city through the gopangasinan.ph website. Out of the total number, 1,526 were from the La Union province and 821 were from the National Capital Region, while the rest were from the different regions in the country and from outside the country. Ymasa reiterated that only those coming from outside Pangasinan who seek to enter the city are required to register online and present the QR code generated upon online registration, along with other pertinent documents. Those from within the province, however, are only required to present government-issued identification cards before entry to the city. Meanwhile, Mayor Marc Brian Lim, in a separate interview, said they have received information that the provincial government of Pangasinan is thinking of adopting the system and migrate it to a different website called ‘See Pangasinan’. “I am not sure where they are in the process. As for us, our stand is that any local government unit who wishes to use it (the QR code system) is welcome, as I’ve said, we designed it for free. We just want a digital record of the outsiders going into the city. In terms of if you extend the application say for peace and order, if there are people coming in here who are thinking of doing something illegal, then there will be a digital recording of them,” he said. Lim issued the advisory on the QR code system on September 29. The QR code system is one of the measures adopted by the city government to slow down, if not stop, the spread of the coronavirus disease and for easier contact tracing. (By Liwayway Yparraguirre)