Mandaue not strictly implementing no vaccination card, no entry policy – BPLO head

Lawyer Lizer Malate, Business Permit Licensing Office head, says  | Mary Rose Sagarino

MANDAUE CITY, Philippines — Mandaue City’s ‘no vaccination card, no entry policy’ is still in effect.

However, Lawyer August Lizer Malate, head of the city’s Business Permit Licensing Office (BPLO), on Friday, January 21, 2022, said that this was not strictly implemented.

Malate said the executive order requiring individuals to present vaccination cards before entering establishments within the city still existed.

The city implemented the policy last November 2021.

He also said there was no need to remind the businesses in the city of the policy as they already knew that it existed.

But he said that they did not really monitor if the establishments were strictly implementing the policy because it was better to focus on more on a different perspective in the approach in the COVID management and move on to a different direction.

“Kay nakita naman nato nga kusog atoang vaccination. Yes, nisaka ang cases, but it’s normal sa mga nasud nga naagian ni Omicron. Ang focus dapat what we will do now kung ma endemic na. Dili na nang maginistrikto ta sa mga establishments. Dili ta ka move on ani if that’s the same mindset that we have from the beginning,” said Malate.

(Because we saw that our vaccination was really strong. Yes, our cases went up, but it’s normal in nations that Omicron has hit. Our focus then should be what we will do now if this becomes endemic. We will not be more strict to the establishments. We cannot move on if that’s the same mindset that we have from the beginning.)

In neighboring city, Cebu City, Mayor Michael Rama on Wednesday signed Executive Order No. 157, allowing only fully-vaccinated persons to enter indoor venues in the city to control the spread of COVID-19 and its highly transmissible Omicron variant.

But earlier, Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia mandated mayors to refrain from requiring the presentation of vaccination card as a requirement for any educational, employment, and other similar government transaction purpose.

So with Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard “Ahong” Chan, who also said that he would allow unvaccinated individuals to enter any establishments.

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/dbs