By MAE SINGUAY

The Bacolod City Health Office (CHO) will monitor ambulant vendors selling food outside public schools to ensure the health and safety of students when classes start on June 16.

“We will work with the barangays to monitor it regularly because CHO cannot be there at all times,” CHO’s Environmental Sanitation Division chief Dr. Grace Tan said.

The CHO will monitor vendors if they are compliant with City Ordinance 9-17-823, or the ambulant food vendors ordinance.

The order will protect students from the possibility of acquiring food-borne and water-borne illnesses due to unsanitary foods.

The following administrative fines will be imposed on vendors violating the ordinance:

* First offense: P300 fine or one day of community service to be rendered in the barangay where the vendor is conducting business

* Second offense: P500 fine or two days of community service

* Third and succeeding offenses: P1,000 fine or a five-day community service

Tan said all ambulant food vendors will be required to submit for medical examinations at CHO to secure a health card.

She also hopes that schools will discourage students from buying food being sold outside their premises.

The CHO will also coordinate with the City Legal Office’s enforcement unit to implement the ordinance./MS, WDJ