ILOILO City – The sale and consumption of liquor in this southern city is until 12 midnight only following a night brawl involving customers and bouncers over the weekend at The Versteck, a trendy nightspot in Barangay San Rafael, Mandurriao district.
Yesterday, Mayor Jerry P. Treňas signed Executive Order (EO) No. 49-A amending his previous EO that regulated the public sale and consumption of liquor and other alcoholic beverages in the city.
Under the amended EO, the city mayor revised the time of sale and consumption in public of any form of liquor or alcoholic beverages, or any alcoholic drinks containing a specific percentage of alcohol by volume or weight to 8 a.m. until 12 midnight only from the previous 8 a.m. to 2 a.m.
This will take effect 12:01 a.m. of Dec. 9, 2022.
The city mayor stressed the need to amend the EO citing the prevalence of people loitering and bar fighting while under the influence of liquor.
He also pointed to the prevalence of criminal activities as reported by the media and Iloilo City Police Office.
Treñas lamented the rising number of bars, night clubs, disco bars, restaurants, resto bars, and other similar establishments engaged in the unregulated dispensation of liquor and other intoxicating drinks even during the wee hours of the morning and sometimes at daytime, resulting to rowdy behavior of consumers.
Two establishments were recently closed for serving liquor to minors.
Treñas added that the city government will deploy and ensure the presence of compliance officers and other authorized personnel to conduct regular random inspections and check on proper compliance of business establishments operating in the city.
“We cannot allow all night drinking without any security officers coming from the establishments themselves. They must provide additional security guards during Fridays and weekends or we will have to strictly enforce order and issue closure orders to the establishments which cannot control their customers,” he added.
Treñas also had a meeting yesterday with the managers of 12 involved stalls at The Versteck at his office to set proper rules and regulations.
Meanwhile, compliance with minimum health protocols such as adequate physical distancing and existing restrictions as imposed by local ordinances such as Liquor Ban for Minors will continue to be in effect.
The city mayor said that Iloilo City, just like other local government units in the country, invites the influx of businesses such as bars, night clubs, disco bars, restaurants, resto bars, and other similar establishments in order to restore the economic blow brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, he stressed that while still adapting to radical changes of COVID-19 transmission, public awareness, vigilance, cooperation, and full adherence to public health protocols remain vital in community-wide responses to effectively curb the cases, including the regulation on dispensation of liquor./PN
