Shorter curfew hours enforced, liquor ban lifted in San Juan

MANILA, Philippines — The San Juan government on Wednesday implemented shorter curfew hours and lifted the ban on the sale and consumption of liquor, with Metro Manila going through another general community quarantine until Sept. 30.

San Juan Mayor Francis Zamora shared on Instagram that city-wide curfew hours were cut to 10 p.m. – 5 a.m. from the previous 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.

Violators of the curfew ordinance will face P1,000 fine or four hours of community service on the first offense. Meanwhile, violators for the second and succeeding offenses will face P5,000 fine or eight hours of community service.

Excluded from the curfew ordinance are frontline workers, law enforcers, government employees, authorized transport services, delivery service workers and those with emergencies.

Meanwhile, Zamora said the sale of liquor is now allowed while restricting consumption of alcoholic drinks inside homes to observe social distancing.

“Lifted na po ang liquor ban sa San Juan ngunit ang mga lugar na pwede uminom ay sa loob ng inyong mga tahanan at sa mga restaurants lamang. Bawal po sa mga kalye at pampublikong lugar,” the mayor said.

(Liquor ban is now lifted in San Juan but there are some areas where drinking is allowed inside homes and restaurants. Drinking is not allowed in streets and public places.)

Liquor ban and longer curfew hours returned during the implementation of modified enhanced community quarantine from Aug. 4 until Aug. 19. The strict quarantine policies remained even when San Juan was placed under GCQ from Aug. 20 until Aug. 31.

The city has yet to give an update on its COVID-19 cases. But according to the Department of Health, San Juan logged a total of 2,143 cases of coronavirus disease with 1,302 recoveries and 56 deaths as of Sept. 1. [ac]