DAVAO CITY — After over five months, the city government is set to lift the liquor ban on September 21.
City Mayor Sara Duterte on Friday said she will issue an executive order next week to lift the city’s liquor ban that she has imposed since April to minimize the possibility of transmitting the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) during drinking sessions.
Lifting the liquor ban, Duterte-Carpio explained, is not a response to the clamor of the people for alcohol. Instead, the decision, she said, was made to help business owners and people whose jobs are connected to the liquor industry.
The city’s liquor ban has triggered a price increase on all alcoholic drinks in Davao City.
The popular Red Horse increased from the usual P90 to P190; Tanduay Rhum Senior from P50 to 120 while the long neck from P110 to P280, but still those many go for it because their bodies are used to it, never mind the price.
Police records show, even during the Enhance Community Quarantine (ECQ), many were apprehended under the influence of alcohol.
When the quarantine status was relaxed from ECQ to Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ), other parts of Davao Region lifted the liquor ban but not Davao City. This prompted enterprising Davao residents to travel to nearby cities to buy the much sought after alcohol.
Even if the liquor ban is lifted, still, beerhouses and other establishment offering alcoholic drinks or beverages cannot open as the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) prohibits the operation.-Newsline.ph
