THE Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) today warned all establishments not complying with Minimum Public Health Standards (MPHS) and other guidelines under the Alert Level System that their Safety Seals may be revoked or their business permits may be suspended for violating Covid-19 safety rules and regulations.
DILG Undersecretary and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said that the Department has been receiving numerous complaints from the public about this issue especially about violations on the cap on operational capacity and failure to implement the requirement of fully vaccinated individuals only in indoor establishments allowed to operate like restaurants, amusement parks, recreational venues, fitness studios and gyms, etc.
“Many restaurants and indoor establishments are not checking the vaccination status of their customers and are violating the 50% operational capacity for indoor establishments and 70% operational capacity of outdoor establishments,” he said.
He said that these establishments are strongly warned that government will revoke the Safety Seals issued to them which will deprive them of the additional 10% operational capacity as well as lose the badge of honor that they are compliant with all public health standards against COVID-19. He added that for repeat violators or those without Safety Seals, the DILG will recommend the revocation of their business permits issued by the Local Government Unit concerned.
He asked all LGUs and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to conduct more inspections of establishments to ensure compliance with Covid-19 guidelines and for LGUs to issue Show Cause Orders against violators.
“We cannot be complacent at this time. Even if cases are going down and vaccination is going up, we cannot put our guard down. Look at Europe, their vaccination rate is high but they are now undergoing a new surge. Vigilance will prevent another surge,” said Malaya.
The Safety Seal program is an inter-agency initiative by the DILG, the Department of Health (DOH), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), and Department of Tourism (DOT) which awards public and private establishments or buildings with a Safety Seal to be conspicuously displayed indicating that they are compliant with health protocols against COVID-19.
