City managers, June 29, conducted talks with local lodging providers in preparation for loosening of quarantine measures allowing them to operate, even while the Corona Virus 2019 (COVID-19) threat remains.
At City Hall, Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong started the talks saying, “We in the city government would like to know your suggestions, experiences, and the problems… so we can help you rise once again.”
The mayor’s executive assistant and lawyer Althea Alberto meanwhile bared Department of Tourism’s (DOT) guidelines for the operation of lodging establishments in areas under national quarantine measures.
It could be remembered, quarantine measures of varying degrees had been imposed by Malacañang over local government units based on recommendations of the Inter-Agency Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).
Alberto said establishments with five rooms or more must secure certificate of authority to operate (CAO) from the DOT.
The DOT inspects the lodging facilities ensuring stringent health measures provided in its guidelines are in place.
Meantime, accommodation facilities with less than five rooms are inspected and issued the necessary certificates by the City Tourism Office (CTO) before they are allowed to receive guests.
Guests are welcome in the establishments for work or leisure.
However, Alberto cautioned, the establishments are only allowed to operate at 50-percent capacity.
In-house services which include canteens, gyms or spas are likewise told to keep the lid at 50-percent.
Alberto however stressed, those who make use of lodging establishment for leisure purposes must be from the Baguio, La Trinidad, Itogon, Sablan, Tuba, Tublay (BLISTT) area.
Meantime, those who have work in the city; or, are on “essential travel” my likewise avail of accommodation services, provided they have the requisite travel authority issued by the Philippine National Police, she added.
The city is holding similar consultations with the transportation, services and leisure sectors in the past weeks.
For his part, permits and licensing division head Allan Abayao said, even prior to COVID-19, the city had been conducting regular inspections of various lodging facilities in the city, urging them to better health and sanitation standards.
“Now that we have COVID-19 in our midst, we are asking boarding houses and similar establishments to elevate their health and sanitation standards even more,” he stressed.**Gaby Keith
