Manufacturers of liquor plea to end the ban against alcoholic beverages stating that the industry’s survival is at stake. In an article by the Inquirer, liquor companies urge the government to ease restrictions. The Center for Alcohol Research and Development (CARD) Foundation Inc. made an appeal last April 16 addressed to Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez. Members of the foundation include Emperador Distillers Inc and Ginebra San Miguel Inc.
“It bears stressing, even with the pain of being called redundant, that the sale of our alcoholic beverages is not an illegal undertaking, not deserving of the prohibition and [the] total ban imposed by the government,” states the Center for Alcohol Research and Development (CARD) Foundation Inc.
The liquor ban has been linked to peace and order concerns – individuals getting drunk while the community is under ECQ. However, manufacturers appeal for reconsideration as the ban will drive out the industry from the market and ‘unduly forfeits the capital which had already been invested’.
It can be recalled that in Iloilo City, Mayor Jerry Treñas lifted the liquor ban but re-imposed it less than 24 hours due to numerous alcohol-related incidents.
“If this ban continues, the industry can no longer survive; a situation that can affect a large sector of the community,” the group warned. The alcohol beverage industry bears already the agony of declining market demand due to the imposition of high excise taxes on alcohol. We are pleading [to the government] to let us thrive as a business by allowing our products to exist in the market with the same freedom of trade given to other goods,” the group adds.
