By Minka Klaudia Tiangco The Caloocan City government partially lifted its ban on the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages as Metro Manila shifts into the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ). City Ordinance No. 0869 Series of 2020 states that establishments can only sell limited quantities of alcoholic beverages from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. For beer, buyers can only purchase five 500-ml. cans or bottles or only two 1-liter bottles. Meanwhile, only two 1-liter bottles of wine may be sold per individual. For gin, whiskey, brandy, and other hard liquor, buyers can only purchase a 1-liter bottle. The sale of liquor by distributors, wholesellers, or high-volume retailers to low-volume retailers–such as neighborhood grocery stores, sari-sari stores, convenience stores, and the like–are not covered by the said restrictions. Residents can only drink liquor inside their houses. Group drinking is also allowed, but persons involved must be limited to three individuals. Physical distancing protocols and other precautionary measures must still be observed amid the threat of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). Violators will pay a fine of P500 for the first offense, P1,000 for the second offense, and P1,500 for the third and subsequent offenses. According to the city ordinance, it would be unfair for establishments in Caloocan to continue the liquor ban since the Inter-Agency Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) deemed it okay for liquor manufacturing industries to operate at 50 percent. Caloocan City government officials said they recognize that the sale of alcoholic beverages contributes to the Philippine economy and that there are health, social, and psychological benefits that come with moderate drinking. Other cities in Metro Manila, such as Quezon City and Pasay City, have also lifted the ban on selling and drinking of liquor. “Other nearby cities have lifted the liquor ban which may one way or the other provide residents of the City of Caloocan the opportunity to purchase liquor from other cities, defeating the prohibition on sale of liquor in the City, to the damage and prejudice of local business establishments in Caloocan,” the ordinance read. “While the Sanggunian still believes in the wisdom of the liquor ban, the evil or harm being avoided by the total ban will not be present in situations where the sale of alcoholic beverage is consumed in private residences under strict social distancing guidelines,” it added.