The local government of Valenzuela City has launched an application that will expedite the process of collecting information of persons entering enclosed establishments in the city.

Following the launching of ValTrace application, private and public establishments will no longer give their customers or visitors contact tracing forms as they can now submit their details through personal QR (quick response) codes.

Both residents and non-residents may generate their own QR codes through the said application after providing their full name, birth date, age, gender, complete address, contact number and e-mail address.

The local government said, a "No QR Code, No Entry" policy will be implemented in covered establishments—such as government and private offices, malls, hotels and groceries—starting Nov. 16.

For families that only have one smartphone, they may generate more than one QR codes from the application for their family members and have them printed, according to the city’s public information office.

"All customers, visitors, and employees of the public and private establishments must not be allowed entry unless they present their own ValTrace generated unique personal QR Code," the city  government said.

The city council also passed Ordinance No. 783 (ValTrace Application Ordinance) that sets out guidelines on the implementation of the application and the penalties imposed.

Under the ordinance, covered establishments must register with the system, scan the QR codes of all their customers and forward their customers' information to the local government after 24 hours of being offline from the system, among others.

Failure to comply will merit a P5,000, P10,000 or P15,000 fine or a revocation of business permit on the first, second and third offense, respectively.

Any person who will provide false information in the application or let another person use his or her personal QR will also be fined P1,000, P3,000 or P5,000 for the first, second or third offense, respectively.