DTI clarifies: Bars still not allowed to reopen

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Trade and Industry clarified on Wednesday that bars are still not allowed to operate under the general community quarantine contrary to an earlier announcement.

DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez said the reopening of bars was not even mentioned during the recent meeting of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).

“Gusto kong malinawan, i-clarify na hindi namin napag-usapan ‘yung bar. Ang talagang allowed pa rin ay ‘yung dine-in establishments. Ang ginalaw lang po doon ay ‘yung pagsara nila up to 9 p.m.,” Lopez said in an interview with ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo.

(I want to clarify that we have not discussed the reopening of bars. Only dine-in establishments are still allowed. We just adjusted its closing time to up to 9 p.m.)

“‘Yun lang ang in-adjust, Wala pong sinama na iba na ‘yung bar ay pwede na,” he added, saying that bars can only reopen in areas under modified general community quarantine.

(That’s the only thing we adjusted. We did not include the reopening of bars.)

Under Resolution No. 48 released on Tuesday, the IATF said restaurants, cafés, and bars in clubhouses can operate at 30 percent capacity, provided that health protocols against the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 will be observed.

The resolution added that the said establishments can operate up to 9 p.m. daily and should follow operational guidelines set by the DTI.

“Nabasa ko rin eh, nagulat din ako at nandoon. Just to tell you na wala ‘yan (reopening of bars) sa usapan. Not in the spirit of the discussion also. We are having it corrected as we speak,” said Lopez.

(I was also surprised when I read it there. I just want to tell you that it was not included in the discussion. It was not in the spirit of discussion. We are having it corrected as we speak.)

The DTI chief explained that operations of the said establishments should only be up to 30 percent capacity in areas under GCQ since its reopening should be made gradual.

“Ang maganda we all work towards the modified GCQ para ma-convert na tayo doon and we allow more for operation,” he said.

(We should all work towards the downgrading of quarantine status to modified GCQ so that we can allow more for operation)

/MUF