BACOLOD City – The City Legal Office (CLO) seeks an additional security feature in the identification cards issued to commercial sex workers (CSWs) here.
The CLO recommends that the City Health Office (CHO) use quick response (QR) codes in each of the IDs, or “pink cards,” issued by the city government to CSWs.
Legal officer Romeo Carlos Ting Jr. said this is to ensure that no ID will be used by another person, particularly minors.
“If there is a QR code in the ID, they cannot recycle the IDs, and the specific age of the bearer is also indicated,” he added.
Last week, the joint team of CLO, CHO, and the Business Permits and Licensing Office (BPLO) conducted a random inspection of the Goldenfield Commercial Complex in Barangay Singcang-Airport.
Of the 21 establishments, only five have business permits. Most of the non-compliant establishments were bars.
During the inspection, the team also discovered that the picture on the ID of one of the CSWs had been tampered with. As such, the inspection team was unable to determine if the person possessing the ID was the true owner.
Notices of violation have already been served by the CLO to establishments with no business permits. Likewise, the CHO also discovered very poor sanitation in the establishments.
They were given by the BPLO three days to process their business permits; failure to do so will result in a closure order being issued./PN