LU Ordinance Prescribes New Normal Operations for LU Accommodations

By: Rafael C. Mosuela, GPC-SP

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The Provincial Government of La Union (PGLU) approved an ordinance that prescribes the operations of hotels and other accommodation establishments under the new normal on August 28, 2020

Vice Gov. Mario Ortega together with the members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) approved Ordinance No. 227 series of 2020 Prescribing The Operations of Hotels and Other Accommodation Establishments Under New Normal and Penalizing the Violations Thereof.

The said ordinance is anchored on the Department of Tourism (DOT) Memorandum Circular No. 2020-002 providing health and safety guidelines governing the operations of accommodation establishments under the new normal.

The new ordinance shall apply to all Accommodation Establishments in the Province of La Union in areas where a community quarantine is no longer in place.

Under the ordinance, those who violate the provisions shall be penalized with a fine of P2,000.00 for first infraction; a fine of P3,000.00 for second infraction; and a fine of P5,000.00 or an imprisonment of not exceeding one year, or both in the discretion of the court for the third and succeeding infractions.

Accommodation establishments shall report to the DOT Regional Office I every two weeks with the number of guests who have developed the symptoms of the illness, if any; and number of guests who were transferred to the appropriate facility, if any.

BM Christian Rivera, the author of the ordinance explained that the main objective of the PGLU is to protect and promote tourism as an indispensable element of the national economy and an industry of national interest and importance which must be harnessed as an engine of economic growth.

He added that to carry out the declared national policy of mitigating the transmission of CoViD-19 pandemic, the adoption of Health and Safety Guidelines for accommodation establishments registered under the DOT must be prescribed.