DADs tackle proximity of bars to schools, churches, hospitals, public buildings

June 18, 2022 Metro BLISTT

The Baguio City Council, during its regular session last Monday, revisited the provision of the liquor ordinance imposing a 50-meter distance between a liquor establishment and any school, church, hospital, or public building.
The councilors mulled the amendment of the said provision to address the concerns of the bar and resto-bar owners in the city whose renewal of their business permits is hampered by the stringent implementation of the law.
Under the liquor ordinance, no nightclub, day club, cabaret, dance hall, bar, disco pad, cocktail lounge, beer garden restaurants, liquor retail dealer, or similar establishments shall be allowed to operate within the city unless a business permit/license is secured by the owner.
Article 2, Section 1 of Ordinance 1-1990 (amended liquor ordinance) states that no license shall be issued to any applicant unless the concerned office certifies that the establishment is beyond the distance of 50 linear meters or 100 linear meters as the case may be, from any school, church, hospital, and/or other public building.”
Several members of the city council stressed there is a need to clarify whether the distance of the bar to a school, church, hospital or public building should be measured either door-to-door, wall-to-wall, or property line-to-property line. The discussion stemmed from a complaint filed by the owner of Lion’s Den, a resto-bar located at 100 Manahan Bldg., Session Road.
Bar owner Josephine Marrero underscored that Lion’s Den had been in operation since 1991 and had not encountered any problem with the renewal of her business permit until now.
The CPDO refused to issue her clearance for her business permit renewal. The office had conducted an inspection and concluded that Lion’s Den is 37 meters away from the office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) which is located at Diego Silang Street.
“I do not understand how I had been given a permit to operate my business for many years until now. I guess times have changed, or so it appears,” she wrote in her complaint letter.
Marrero told the council her bar only operates from 4:00 PM to midnight and customers usually come late at night. She likewise claimed that the DENR office had already been transferred.
“I only hope that we have not reached that point where laws, ordinances, orders, and the like, are more important than the people,” she added. Engr. Elias Aoanan of the CPDO said they use “laser measurement” which,