Cebu City gov’t orders indefinite closure of shoe store after failure to control crowd in 11.11 sale

| photo from Ramil Ayuman

CEBU CITY, Philippines – The Cebu City government on Wednesday, November 11, 2020, ordered a shoe store here to close its operations indefinitely after holding an 11.11 sale that went awry.

Cebu City Councilor Joel Garganera, head of the city’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC), confirmed to reporters that a throng of people violated health protocols when they waited for a shoe store to open along Sanson Road in Barangay Lahug here.

Based on accounts from netizens who happened to pass by the area, people were already queuing as early as 7 a.m., and the line had already reached Gorordo Avenue with no regards to social distancing. 

Police said their own investigation revealed that people did come as early as 3 a.m.

Read: Cebu City police disperse crowd gathering for shoe store’s 11.11 sale

“What we did, I coordinated with City Admin and Business Permit Section, and we decided to close it indefinitely,” said Garganera.

Photo courtesy of Michael Pugoy Arong 

‘Grave violation of health protocols’

The city government reported that the store violated the Executive Order (EO) mandating social distancing protocols in public places, and that it also failed to secure a business permit, and permission from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to hold sale and other promotional events. 

Garganera also slammed the owner and management of the store, saying that this could have been prevented if they anticipated its aftermath. 

“This is a marketing strategy they should know the consequence of such promo. I’m not saying its violative but they should know the consequence,” said Garganera. 

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“For us here in the EOC, this is a grave violation of health protocols,” he added. 

November 11, or commonly referred to as 11.11, is a Chinese non-official holiday and shopping season called Singles Day.  

Since the boom of e-commerce and online shopping, it has evolved into becoming one of the world’s largest physical retail and online shopping events in the world. 

/bmjo