LGU shuts down over 60 stalls in Cainta markets for violating health protocols
By Nel Andrade
CAINTA, Rizal- The local government has cracked down on health protocol violations, shutting down several stalls in public and private markets and establishments in the town for breaking guidelines set by the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).
Mayor Johnielle Keith Nieto wrote in a Facebook (FB) post that some stalls were issued a cease-and-desist order (CDO) and closed for seven days, after the municipality’s Business Permits and Licensing Office (BPLO) found them without the necessary protective equipment and face masks for their vendors, and other violations of the IATF guidelines.
Nieto said at least 65 stall owners went to the mayor’s office Thursday morning (July 30) to appeal for the reconsideration of the CDOs issued against them, but he turned down their request.
“No mercy muna, ha. ‘Wag naman nating ipahamak ang mga mamimili...salamat. (No mercy as of now. Don’t put the customers at risk. Thank you),” Nieto told the stall owners in the same FB post.
The text of the CDO issued by the BPLO and included in the same FB post states that the BPLO’s investigation revealed that the erring stall and establishment owners and personnel committed certain violations.
These were related to their non-compliance with Republic Act No. 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, and the Omnibus Guidelines on the Implementation of Community Quarantine in the Philippines, set forth in Executive Order No. 112 dated April 29, 2020, as implemented by the municipal government.
As of July 29, 11 new COVID-19 cases were recorded, bringing to 119 the total number of new cases in the town.
Nieto said he hopes to bring down the number of the new cases resulting from community transmission by deploying COVID Watch Personnel, composed of policemen and local security personnel, to guard the locked-down houses where COVID-19 cases and their family members reside.
The mayor also said he will propose to business process outsourcing companies that they regulate the movement of their personnel to and from their workplaces by using a point-to-point transport system to prevent social interaction in order to minimize the risk of transmitting the coronavirus.