CEBU Provincial Board Member Glenn Anthony Soco has proposed a resolution urging commercial establishments to allow restaurants and other dining or food establishments to set up outdoor/al fresco dining areas while Cebu is battling Covid-19, and like units to allow the use of public parks, sidewalks, curbsides and other public open spaces as temporary outdoor/al fresco dining areas of said establishments and regulate such use.
Soco told reporters Monday, Aug. 16, 2021, that this resolution was welcomed by Carlo Suarez of the Hotel, Resort and Restaurant Association of Cebu, and the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Soco said he authored this resolution after the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) upgraded the quarantine status of Cebu Province to general community quarantine (GCQ) with heightened restrictions. He said the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have been affected by the pandemic since 2020, causing some of them to close.
“I’m just really concerned about the business sector especially the MSMEs. The pandemic has been hard on our economy, and now it has worsened due to heightened restrictions. I’ve heard a lot of concerns raised by business owners and workers due to the new quarantine classification status,” Soco said.
Based on IATF guidelines, under GCQ, only 50 percent of venue capacity is allowed for outdoor dining and 20 percent capacity for indoor dining.
Soco said there are establishments structured and designed for outdoor dining in Cebu Province.
Meanwhile, Soco said the business sector is also compliant with the installation of air purifiers inside the establishments, another requirement under the Executive Order 35-B issued by Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia. (MVE)