The city government has issued the Safety Seal certificate to 88 out of about 100 establishments that have applied and have been inspected by the Iloilo Safety Seal Certification Program Inspection and Certification Committee.
“These were major malls, fast-food chains, and BPOs (business process outsourcing),” head of the Business Permit and Licensing Division (BPLD), Norman Flor Tabud, said in a phone interview on Friday.
To qualify for the safety seal, establishments have to comply with regulation accreditation requirements; the use of StaySafe.ph, UswagTracer application, or any contact tracing tool; and the enforcement of the minimum public health standards.
Tabud said the number of establishments that were certified is small when compared to the more or less 15,000 businesses that are registered in the city.
He said this is because the application for the certification is voluntary.
“We just wait for those who request or send their intent to be inspected. We go about as the requests come in,” he said.
Tabud noted that some establishments did not bother to apply, although they comply with health protocols.
However, he said, Mayor Jerry P. Treñas is encouraging and requiring establishments to follow health protocols by securing the safety seal as one way of boosting public confidence in visiting their stores.
“Our safety seal certification program is one way of letting the public know that this establishment has complied with the requirements on safety health protocols imposed by the government,” Tabud said.
On July 13, Treñas issued Executive Order 60 adopting the Safety Seal Certification Program, covering private business establishments, selected public places, and other offices, including but not limited to malls, wet markets, other retail stores, restaurants outside hotels and resorts, food preparation establishments, banks, money changers, pawnshops, remittance centers, microfinance institutions, car wash, laundry service centers, art galleries, libraries, museums, zoos, sports centers, tutorial, testing and review centers, gyms, spas, cinemas, arcades, and all other establishments that are allowed to open subject to the quarantine restrictions imposed by the government.
The Inspection and Certification Committee is headed by the BPLD with representatives of the City Health Office – Sanitation Division, Iloilo City Compliance Team, Bureau of Fire Protection, and Philippine National Police as members.
Those who want to get the Safety Seal may send their application via e-mail to bplo.safetyseal2021@gmail.com. (PNA)
