The Commission on Elections has ordered a five-day liquor ban in preparation for national and local elections on May 13.
The Philippine News Agency said the liquor ban was supposed to cover just two days prior to the elections, but the Comelec has decided to ban the sale of liquor from May 9 to May 13.
The Omnibus Election Code penalizes “any person who sells, furnishes, offers, buys, serves or takes intoxicating liquor on the days fixed by law for the registration of voters in the polling place, or on the day before the election or on election day.
Some good news for tourists, though. The Omnibus Election Code has a provision that says “hotels and other establishments duly certified by the Ministry of Tourism as tourist oriented and habitually in the business of catering to foreign tourists may be exempted for justifiable reasons upon prior authority of the Commission.”
“Provided, further, that foreign tourists taking intoxicating liquor in said authorized hotels or establishments are exempted from the provisions of this subparagraph,” Section 261 of the Omnibus Election Code also says.
