CEBU CITY, Philippines—The Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) is now coordinating with the Cebu City Market Authority and the vendors in the different public markets in the city on how to go about with social distancing inside the markets.
Police Colonel Hector Grijaldo, the new CCPO director, said that guidelines have to be set in place for the impending lockdown in the city.
Grijaldo said there may be a need to close the markets for a day to set up the new parameters for public markets.
The police director is eyeing separate entry and exit points so people will no longer bump into each other when shopping.
“Mag authorize sila nga usa sa pamilya nga mao ray moadto sa merkado. Dayon siguro tagaan nato silag 20 minutos nga mopalit, depende,” said Grijaldo.
(Each family should authorize only one person to go the markets. Maybe we can give them 20 minutes to shop, it depends.)
The guidelines will be set per public market as the police will still need the input of the vendors, as even stalls have to be arranged for social distancing.
The CCPO already met with vendor groups to discuss these possible changes.
Grijaldo hopes for the cooperation of the public once these intensified measures are set place.
He urges them to plan their market activities well so they will not be buying more than what they can consume, or take too much time to be in the markets. /bmjo