Makati City announces ban on drinking alcohol outside residences

Makati City Mayor Abby Binay on Tuesday announced a prohibition on drinking alcoholic beverages outside residences whenever a state of calamity or public health emergency is declared in the city.

Binay said the City Council has approved Ordinance No. 2020-152 to prevent situations that could further endanger lives during a crisis. She said this measure would take effect on July 14.

"Drinking in the confines of one’s own home is safer, but it’s best to avoid drinking altogether during a crisis,” Binay said in a press release.

The said ordinance also bans drinking liquor at the point of sale, including stores and other establishments where the product was purchased, according to Binay.

Tenants and guests at hotels, motels, apartments, apartelles, bed and breakfast, transient houses, dormitories, and bed spaces shall be allowed to drink only inside their own rooms or accommodations, Binay said.

The ordinance imposes a fine of P5,000 on the first offense; P5,000 or imprisonment for not more than one month, or both on the second offense; and P5,000 or imprisonment for not more than a year, or both at the discretion of the court, on the third and succeeding offenses.

Binay also said the city will prevent restaurant bars from hosting private dining and drinking parties, which are potential hotbeds for spreading COVID-19 infection.

“We're clamping down on these types of gatherings where it's difficult, if not impossible, to enforce social distancing,” she said.

This ordinance came following an incident last week in which over a hundred people were arrested in a restaurant bar for allegedly violating quarantine protocols. — BM, GMA News