Close shop, reduce hours, or cut workforce, malls urged

BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines – Malls here are directed to either close shop, reduce workforce and/or reduce operating hours while a “health threat” is up.

Mayor Evelio Leonardia, in his Executive Advisory #1, said the malls can opt to reduce the number of days they operate in a week, to either partially or full close, or to maintain only a skeletal workforce preferably from Bacolod so that their staff living out-of-town would not have to encounter quarantine measures.

The advisory also enumerated the stores that should be kept open. These are: drug stores and pharmacies, supermarkets and groceries, medical clinics and labs, government agencies, bakeries, banks, and convenience stores.