THE Emergency Operations Center (EOC) for Covid-19 in Mandaue City clarified that selling and transporting alcoholic drinks in the city are still allowed.
On Feb. 20, 2021, Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes had mandated a “total liquor ban” in the city.
August Lizer Malate, the head of EOC for Covid-19, said selling and transporting alcoholic drinks are still allowed since the executive order of Cortes prohibits only serving and drinking alcoholic drinks in an establishment.
Malate said they made it clear after one of the biggest brewery companies in Mandaue City asked for a permit from the city to allow it to transport and sell its products.
“This is to discourage public gatherings but also still balance it with the economy,” said Malate.
He said establishments can still sell liquor, but they should not open them and serve them to the customer.
Customers are allowed to drink alcoholic drinks in their respective houses.
Malate said the liquor ban is necessary since they noticed that gatherings usually happened in places that serve liquor.
With the rise in the number of cases, he said they wanted to prevent these unnecessary gatherings.
In a separate interview, PCol. Jonathan Abella, the city director of the Mandaue City Police Office, said they also noticed that in these types of restaurants or establishments, customers usually linger when there are alcoholic drinks.
This means the customers will be exposed for a longer time, Abella said.
Abella said they have started conducting a patrol operation on the establishments serving alcoholic drinks to check their compliance. (KFD)