Lapu markets to be closed Sundays during ECQ

Mayor Junard Chan inspects one of the Lapu-Lapu City markets in Barangay Poblacion. | screengrabbed from Lapu-Lapu PIO video

CEBU CITY, Philippines — No public or private market in Lapu-Lapu City will be allowed to open during Sundays as part of the additional measures during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

In his Executive Order No. 48-C, Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard Chan said the closure on Sundays would serve as the time for vendors to disinfect their stalls.

On Saturday, April 18, 2020, Chan issued EO no. 48-C, which laid down additional measures to be implemented during the ECQ, which included the regulation of vehicle movement and the schedule of market days in the city.

According to the EO, which will take effect at midnight on Monday, April 20, the the city will already use the ending digits of the residents’ quarantine pass control number as basis of their market day schedules.

Those, whose quarantine passes has odd ending digits (1, 3, 5, 7, 9), will be allowed to go to the market every Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays while bearers of even-digit ending passes (0, 2, 4, 6, 8) may go to the markets only on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

While markets will be closed on Sundays, the executive order directs vendors to participate in the city’s mobile market, Market-on-Wheels, in order to ensure food accessibility despite the market closure.

The City Market Administrator has yet to issue a separate set of guidelines for the city’s mobile markets.

Lapu-Lapu City will also be enforcing a number coding policy to control the volume of vehicles plying the streets of the city during the ECQ.

Read more: Lapu-Lapu to implement number coding scheme of exempted private vehicles

For Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays, and during morning on Sundays, vehicles with plate numbers ending in even digits will be allowed on the city’s streets while odd-digit ending plate numbers will be allowed to go out on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sunday afternoons.

For individuals whose end digits of their quarantine pass and vehicle plate number do not fall on similar odd-even category, Chan said the schedule on the vehicle number coding will be followed.

“Sa higayon nga dili makatakdo ang quarantine pass ug ang inyuhang vehicle plate number, mas mopatigbabaw ang vehicle plate number. Apan, kinahanglan ninyung i-presentar ang photocopy sa inyung OR/CR sa inyung sakyanan dayong pagsulod sa merkado, grocery stores o supermarkets,” the mayor said in a Facebook post explaining his EO.

(For instances where the quarantine pass and the vehicle plate number won’t match, the vehicle plate number will be used as the basis for the person going to the market. But the person should present a photocopy of his OR [official receipt]/CR [certificate of registration] of his vehicle before entering the market, grocery stores, or supermarkets.)/dbs