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Dining with kids near Tagaytay

January 15, 2021

As part of the effort to control the spread of COVID-19, authorities in the Philippines have announced various travel restrictions on the public. More stringent restrictions are imposed on children and the delerly, as they are regarded as being more vulnerable to the disease. There are broad based restrictions, such as those announced by the central government regarding the classification of quarantine levels by geographical areas. Then there are further restrictions announced by the local authorities. The central authorities' announcements can sometimes be found in the official website of PCOO, like this one (https://pcoo.gov.ph/news_releases/metro-manila-nine-other-areas-placed-under-gcq-in-january/) that announces the extension of GCQ in Metro Manila and a few other places in January 2021. Unfortunately for the public, there is no centralized official bulletin board where the public can check the local restrictions in all places. We have to search the websites and social media of the places that we are interested in to get the announcements by local authorities, making it difficult for people to make informed decisions, and for the authorities to achieve their goals. Tagaytay out of bound to kids under 15 years old We found this poster in the FB page of Tagaytay City that bans kids under 15 years old from visiting the city.



The poster refers to an announcement made by the Governor of Cavite on the official FB page of Cavite province. We could only find a post in that FB page that says kids under 15 and people over 65 years old are not allowed in malls, but nothing about outdoor restaurants outside malls. Perhaps the local authorities consider the whole of Tagaytay as a mall or theme park. At weekends, Tagaytay can indeed get very crowded. Restaurants near Tagaytay We are not aware of local authorities adjacent to Tagaytay City announcing a similar ban. Unless anyone knows otherwise, it seems OK to bring kids to restaurants that are just outside the city boundary of Tagaytay. Our Google search found the boundary of the city like this.



If this map is correct, then places like Sonya's Garden and Marcia Adams' Restaurant in Alfonso are not affected by the ban.




Last Wednesday, a very quiet day in the suburb, we took our 13 year old kid to a restaurant just outside Tagaytay City, and she was able to dine there. Hotels in Alfonso also seem to open to children. But as we know, conditions can change from day to day. To be prudent, we should call an establishment in the affected restaurant ahead to check the COVID-19 restrictions in place.