The SM Supermall Sucat in Parañaque City is the first business establishment to receive the “Safety Seal” certification from city government, affirming their good housekeeping and compliance with minimum health protocols during this time of the pandemic.
The Safety Seal is a guarantee that the business is compliant with the requirements set by the government to ensure their health, safety, and security. Its ultimate purpose is to increase consumer confidence.
The program is an inter-agency effort among the Department of Interior and Local Government, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and the city government of Parañaque which grants establishments a Safety Seal to be conspicuously displayed indicating that the building they are entering are compliant to health protocols against COVID-19.
The award was personally handed to SM Supermalls president Steven Tan by Mayor Edwin Olivarez, DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez, DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya, Rep. Eric Olivarez, and lawyer Malanie Malaya, city’s chief of Business Permit and License Office and committee head.
Olivarez encouraged consumers to patronize business establishments with safety seals which affirm good housekeeping for those that strictly comply with minimum health protocols.
“The local government is committed to require all business establishments to comply with the minimum public health standards as we increase the operating capacity to help them recover in this pandemic,” he added.
The Safety Seal certification program, according to Lopez, is a “best practice” program adopted from more advanced countries like Singapore, in a bid to boost consumer confidence in businesses.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases ordered its implementation in December last year.
As more businesses are now slated to open to boost the economy, especially in the event that quarantine classifications are downgraded anew, Malaya said these Safety Seals coupled with the StaySafe.ph app can be a tool in halting the transmission of the coronavirus.
The use of StaySafe.ph is mandatory for establishments that would like to apply for a safety seal certification program.
The StaySafe.ph app was developed by Parañaque-based Multisys Technologies Corporation composed of “expert programming engineers in the Philippines” that offer software engineering solutions, according to its website.
Aside from business establishments, government offices are also urged to secure a safety seal from the DILG or the Philippine National Police
The safety seal is valid for six months upon the issuance date, except for tourism enterprises which are given a one-year validity period.