Cebu City Reimposes Liquor Ban Amid Rising COVID-19 Cases in 2021

Cebu City Mayor Edgar Labella signed Executive Order (EO) No. 117 which subjects whole Cebu City to a liquor ban.

This comes as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in the city continues to sharply rise since the start of 2021, which places the city at risk of having another lockdown that will deal great damage to a city that just started rebooting its economy.

Under the said EO, the serving of alcoholic drinks at public places shall be prohibited.

However, hotels, resorts, and other accommodation establishments will still be able to serve alcoholic drinks to their in-house guests. In addition, groceries, sari-sari stores, and convenience stores are still allowed to sell liquor, but the products shall not be consumed outside the said stores or in public places.

Cebu City has suffered a sharp spike in COVID-19 cases after the Christmas, New Year, Sinulog seasons–prompting the local government to take action to prevent further infections from happening.

However, the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on COVID-19 spared Cebu City from the more strict General Community Quarantine as the city is still placed under the more lenient Modified General Community Quarantine.

Cebu Province did not join Cebu City in the reimposing of liquor ban as Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia announced that no liquor ban will be imposed in the province. (GFB)