BARBERSHOPS and salons will only be allowed to operate when an area is put under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ), a trade official said.
“It has been clarified that the operation of barbershops, salons, and other personal care will only be allowed during the modified general community quarantine (MGCQ),” Department of Trade and Industry in Davao City (DTI-Davao City) director Rachel Remitio said, citing the latest omnibus guidelines released by Interagency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Disease (IATF-EID).
Under Section 5, IATF-EID specified that “barbershops, salons, and other personal care establishments shall be allowed to operate at a maximum of 50 percent venue capacity.”
DTI earlier released Memorandum Circular 20-22 stating that barbershops and salons which are classified as Category III industries are allowed to operate on a 50 percent work-on-site arrangement or work-from-home under general community quarantine (GCQ).
However, the omnibus guidelines issued on May 22 stated that personal care services such as massage parlors, sauna bath establishments, facial care, foot spa, waxing salons are not allowed to operate in areas under GCQ.
It also made no mention of barbershops and salons which raised confusion among the public.
“There was confusion when the DTI issued Memorandum Circular 20-22 wherein barbershops and salons were classified under Category III,” Remitio said.
“But really the intention of the IATF during the previous issuances or [the guidelines] dated May 15 was that the barbershops and salons are classified under Personal Care,” she added.
With this, she urged establishments to follow the recent guidelines of the IATF.
“We are encouraging katong mga nag-operate nga dili dapat mag operate in view of this latest guidelines. Kung pwede let’s follow strictly kung unsa ang giprovide sa ato sa Omnibus Guidelines (We encourage those who are operating but are not allowed based on the latest guidelines to follow it strictly),” she said.
She also warned that violators will be sanctioned.
“Kung nagpadayon pa gyud, kung dili madala sa hangyo, nagpadayon gihapon og operate, then pwede nato sila patawan og violations in accordance to the sanctions provided sa atong Bayanihan To Heal As One (If they will not follow, then we will charge them in accordance to the sanctions provided in the Bayanihan To Heal As One Act),” she said.
However, Davao City mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio said she will allow barbershops and salons who have opened to continue to operate in spite of the conditions set by the latest omnibus guidelines.
“Wala nako gipasirad-an na kay dili man gud na pwede na mag bag-o bag-o ba. Karon pwede, unya dili. Kung pwede, pwede, Kung dili, dili. Luoy ang mga tao. Ang mga negosyante walay problema na sila but ang mga employees, mura ganig hatag-bawi, hatag bawi (I allowed them to continue their operation. It is not right to change their decision every time at the expense of the employees),” she said during her interview at the 87.5 Davao City Disaster Radio, May 26.
She said she intended not to mention the two types of establishments in the update posted of businesses allowed to operate under the GCQ on the city government’s Facebook page.
“Ang katong summary nga gipublish nato, silent siya about barbershops and salons. Since, dunay DTI 20-22 May 5 to siya, and nasultian na nato ang mga tao that they are allowed based on that memorandum, wala na nato siya gi-bawi didto sa summary nga gibuhat nato para sa mga tao sa May 22 guidelines (We already told the barbershop and salon owners to open based on the DTI Memorandum Circular 20-22 and we keep it in spite of the prohibition set by the omnibus guidelines issued on May 22),” she said.
“Kung unsa ang favorable karon sa employee ug sa worker, mao karon ang atong sundon (We will follow what is favorable to the employees),” she added.
Meanwhile, DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez and National Task Force (NTF) against Covid-19 Chief Implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez recently inspected health and safety protocols of three salons and barbershops as part of studying the possibility of allowing these establishments to open soon.
In a statement, the two secretaries reportedly visited these establishments to inspect their plans on how to implement the health protocols and show if they can be well-equipped to reopen, considering the close contact between barbers and customers.
“The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) recognizes that salons and barbershops employ over 400,000 people. While we want for them to reopen in the general community quarantine (GCQ), we also need to take into consideration the pressing concern that this industry, which may cause further transmission, should institute strict measures to prevent such risks of passing infection,” Lopez said.
Aside from barbershops and salons, the secretaries also inspected the fast-food chains and restaurants.