Who’s afraid of Rody’s liquor ban?

Presumptive President-elect Rodrigo Duterte           INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/LYN RILLON

WHO’S AFRAID of a ban on the sale of liquor in public places after 2 a.m. once Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte becomes the CEO of the archipelago?

Not liquor manufacturer Emperador Inc., which expects people to adjust accordingly by stockpiling their favorite drink and consuming them in the privacy of their homes.

“In our research, 90 percent of Emperador consumption is done at home. Only 10 percent is out of home,” Emperador president Winston Co said during the liquor firm’s stockholders meeting on Monday.

“So, we feel that it will have a minimal impact on our products and we have always been at the forefront of consumer education in terms of moderate drinking—drinking responsibly particularly with our Emperor brand,” Co said.

If at all, Co said the liquor ban would likely gnaw more on the consumption of beer and some of imported spirits that are mostly consumed on social occasions.

According to Co, people who go to Valkyrie, one of the hottest clubs in Metro Manila, and party until the wee hours, usually consumed beer or imported liquor.

“But as far as home consumption is concerned, we believe it is stable and in fact we believe it might grow,” he said.

Co noted that Davao City, where the alcohol ban had been imposed by the mayor, has remained one of the highest alcohol-consuming areas in Mindanao.

Emperador draws comfort from the Duterte camp’s assurance that people would not be prevented from drinking at home. At the same time, the expectation is that hotels and other tourist areas will be exempted from the ban.

For the Duterte camp, banning alcohol in public areas, especially on streets, is part of the measures to maintain peace and order, given that people tend to be more aggressive and enter into petty quarrels when intoxicated.

At the same time, drinking on the streets is seen posing danger to pedestrians.