Baguio execs, bar owners clarify rules on operations

By Julie G. Fianza

BAGUIO CITY -- An adjudication board headed by the city legal office was proposed to look over matters between bar and entertainment business owners and city hall offices concerned with regulatory documents.
    Future meetings may also be initiated to thresh out issues on permits, licenses, acquisition process or procedures.
     These were agreed upon during dialogue between bar and entertainment business owners and representatives from the Peace, Order and Safety Division (POSD), City Health Services, City Legal, City Planning, Development and Sustainability and other concerned offices, at the Sangguniang Panlungsod Session hall, city hall last Tuesday.
    As committee chair on health, sanitation, hygiene, ecological and environmental concerns, Councilor Betty Lourdes Tabanda presided the dialogue.
    Discussed were the city’s smoke-free program; wherein POSD Chief Daryl Longid said provisions of the city’s smoke-free ordinance were clear-cut, as bases for confiscation, or issuance of notice of violation.
    During inspection of establishments; details and evidence of smoking are checked  intensively before action is done and the POSD heads’S attention may be called for complaints or concerns, Longid said.
    Other issues not within his capacity as POSD head may be forwarded to Mayor Benjamin Magalong, he added.
    Applications for smoking areas are accepted, but warned that requirements are stringent, Longid added.
Fenced, wide but unroofed areas for smoking are compulsory.

 The liquor ban remains, considering proposals for change are still with the city council, Longid added.

Nurse Gay Hope Alangsab representing the Reproductive, Hygiene and Wellness Clinic said Health Services Office requirements for entertainers and night workers are: original documents from the Philippine Statistics Authority, valid ID, Vaccination card or Certificate, laboratory results of drug test, chest x-ray, stool exam, and HIV/syphilis (free screening at the reproductive hygiene wellness clinic) test.    

Applicants for clearances should also check from other offices/agencies about their requirements, Alangsab said.

Longid also reminded bars and business owners of the silent night ordinance, where excessive loud noise/music are prohibited from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. or within 200 meters from schools, churches and hospitals. Penalties are set at P1,000; P3,000; P5000 for first, second and third offense respectively, with six months imprisonment, or both.   

Entertainment or bar operating hours are up to midnight, and those with dancing, to 2 a.m., with winding-up hours done earlier.

Permits for the line of business should be very clear, Longid added, as his staff could be called up to check on said business establishments at any hour.

 The POSD office is open for dialogues and clarifications as discussions lead to a healthy relationship between authorities and business people, Longid said. – JGF