Cebu City to continue cashless transactions

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu City Council wants to sustain the use of online payments in the city government, which started during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

City Councilor Noel Wenceslao, who chairs the committee on budget and finance, told The FREEMAN in an interview that going cashless is one of the most important lessons they realized in the pandemic.

The city government started accepting online payments during the height of the pandemic but through bank transfer, Wenceslao said.

Now, they are looking into including other means of cashless transactions.

“Although we are already accepting payment online, pero limited ra siya. Kato pag pandemic ato man tong gi-practice,” said Wenceslao.

Earlier this week, the city government launched the CPESO with Vice Mayor Raymond Alvin N. Garcia, together with some members of the City Council along with CPass, Inc. Vice-President Charlie Seo, the company behind CPESO, which is the first peso-based stablecoin in the country.

With this launching, the Cebu City government will soon accept all major forms of cashless payment systems including cards, mobile wallets, third-party providers, and cryptocurrency thru CPESO for payment of taxes, fees, and other services.

In 2021, then Mayor Edgardo Labella signed a memorandum of understanding with the said company to explore the feasibility of bringing CPass’ cryptocurrency, remittance, and payment systems to the city government.

“Among gi-launch tong CPESO more or less, cashless transaction na unya ta. Tanang mga bayrnonon is pwede na tag cashless through online, mga wallet, Maya, etc. Pwede ganig kanang crypto. More or less gi-launch na to nato na,” Wenceslao said.

After CPESO’s launch, Wenceslao disclosed that vice mayor Garcia is set to propose an ordinance regarding cashless transactions in the City.

Wenceslao said such a proposal will be given priority by the City Council with the aim of adding up revenue to the city government, and at the same time, giving comfort and ease of doing business further in the city without having to personally go to the City Hall. — GAN (FREEMAN)