BACOLOD City – The City Health Office (CHO) will closely monitor ambulant food vendors operating outside school premises once classes officially resume on Monday, June 16, for the school year 2025-2026.
This initiative aims to ensure the health and safety of students by checking vendors’ compliance with City Ordinance No. 09-17-823, series of 2017, otherwise known as the Ambulant Food Vendors Ordinance.
Dr. Grace Tan, head of the CHO’s Environmental Sanitation Division, said the CHO will coordinate with barangay officials to conduct regular inspections.
“We will work with the barangays to monitor these vendors regularly since the CHO cannot be present at all times,” Tan explained.
She added that schools should play a role in encouraging students to buy food from canteens within school premises. Tan expressed hope that school authorities would actively discourage students from purchasing food from street vendors.
Under the ordinance, an ambulant vendor is defined as any person selling food using carts, stands, or containers — including handheld boxes and baskets — and who is directly or indirectly involved in the preparation, handling, and selling of food.
The ordinance was enacted to protect the public from food-borne and water-borne illnesses, as well as from unsanitary, misbranded, or adulterated food items.
Key provisions of the ordinance include the mandatory medical examination and health card requirement for all ambulant food vendors. No vendor is allowed to sell food to the public without first obtaining a health card from the CHO, which must be worn at all times while vending.
Violators of the ordinance are subject to administrative penalties:
* first offense: P300 fine or one day of community service in the barangay where the vendor operates;
* second offense: P500 fine or two days of community service; and
* third and succeeding offenses: P1,000 fine or five days of community service.
The ordinance is being implemented by the CHO’s Environmental Sanitation Division, in coordination with the City Legal Office – Enforcement Unit./PN
