Baguio bar owners nix distance rule; council mulls amendments

By Jordan Habbiling

BAGUIO CITY – The City Council is amendments to the liquor ordinance here imposing a 50-meter distance between a liquor establishment and any school, church, hospital, or public building following complaints of some business owners they have a hard time getting permits from the city government due to rules on distance to churches among others.
    The City Council, during its regular session last Monday, mulled amendment of the said provision to address concerns of bar and restobar owners in the city whose renewal of their business permits is hampered by the stringent implementation of the law.
    Under the liquor ordinance, no night club, day club, cabaret, dance hall, bar, disco pad, cocktail lounge, beer garden restaurants, liquor retail dealer, or similar establishments shall be allowed to operate within the city unless a business permit/license is secured by the owner. 
    Article 2, Section 1 of Ordinance 1-1990 (amended liquor ordinance) states that no license shall be issued to any applicant unless the concerned office certifies that the establishment is beyond the distance of 50 linear meters or 100 linear meters as the case may be, from any school, church, hospital, and/or other public building.”
    Several members of the city council stressed there is a need to clarify whether the distance of the bar to a school, church, hospital, or public building should be measured either door-to-door, wall-to-wall, or property line-to-property line. 
    The discussion stemmed from a complaint filed by the owner of Lion’s Den, a restobar located in 100 Manahan Bldg, Session Road.
    Bar owner Josephine Marrero said Lion’s Den had been in operation since 1991 and had not encountered any problem with the renewal of her business permit until now. 
    The CPDO refused to issue her a clearance for her business permit renewal.
    The office had conducted an inspection and concluded that Lion’s Den is 37 meters away from the office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) which is located at Diego Silang Street. 
    “I really do not understand how I had been given a permit to operate my business for many years until now. I guess times have really changed, or so it appears,” she wrote in her complaint letter.    
    Marrero told the council her bar only operates from 4 p.m. to midnight and customers usually come late at night. She likewise claimed that the DENR office had already been transferred. 
    “I only hope that we have not reached that point where laws, ordinances, orders, and the like, are more important than the people,” she added. 
    Engineer Elias Aoanan of the CPDO said they use “laser measurement” which, according to him, is more accurate and scientific.
    He said restobars that are within the 50-meter proximity to schools, churches, hospitals, and public buildings are advised to change their line of business. 
    Addressing the concern of the restobar owner, the city council passed a resolution requesting the Permits and Licensing Division to issue Marrero a special permit to allow her to operate until December of this year. 
    Councilor Betty Lourdes Tabanda said the issuance of a temporary permit would serve as a band-aid solution while the city council is working on the amendment of the liquor ordinance.
    A public consultation on the liquor ordinance was conducted in 2019. Bar and resto bar owners then complained about the 50-meter measurement. They pleaded it should be reduced to 30 meters and suggested liquor establishments be soundproofed to reduce the noise coming from therein. 
    “During the public consultation, there were complaints from the business sector, but there were also strong oppositions from schools and churches. So there should be a compromise,” Tabanda stated. 
    According to Councilor Benny Bomogao, the council needs to enact “curative legislation to clarify the intention of the liquor ordinance.