BY ADRIAN P. NEMES III
There will be no total liquor ban in Bacolod, Emergency Operations Center executive director Em Ang clarified yesterday, adding that the city government would rather strictly implement the current executive order allowing the sale of liquor from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. only.
During a recent virtual meeting, Ang said that Bacolod City Police Office chief, Col. Manuel Placido, and BCPO Operations chief, P/Col Lester Leada, committed to strictly enforce the liquor ban.
She said they received reports that there are establishments that go beyond the allowed period for the sale and consumption of liquors.
Ang reiterated that liquor in restaurants should be sold along with food as agreed earlier by the city government and the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Negros Occidental.
Currently, karaoke bars are allowed to operate under the Modified General Community Quarantine status but at a reduced capacity so that the customers could properly observe social distancing.
EMPLOYEES POSITIVE
Meanwhile, Ang reported that there are now 27 employees of the Bacolod City government who tested positive for Covid.
On Monday, some 65 employees assigned at the City Engineer’s Office, City Treasurer’s Office, Sangguniang Panlungsod, EOC, City Mayor’s Office, and Registrar’s Office went through surveillance testing to check if they have Covid.
“With the increasing number of city employees who have been infected by the virus, the city government is now implementing a skeletal workforce scheme,” Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran said. Familiaran already issued a memorandum for the skeletal workforce scheme for SP employees, and said that Mayor Evelio Leonardia also issued a similar order to his staff members and the employees from the other offices at the Bacolod Government Center.*
