The place was already teeming with customers, mostly students having R&R after a grueling day in school. Waiters darted here and there to get the orders. Bottles were emptied and shots were counted as people laughed their hearts out for the night.

It was perfect for Bobby Roxas* and his high school friends. They went there to drink and get drunk. Nobody was there to bother them. The place was Drew's, a popular watering hole in the Loyola Heights area.

Now a college freshman, Roxas and his friends would drink there four times a week. Sometimes, they would drink first at Cantina, another establishment in Katipunan, before going to Drew's.

Nina Guzman*, a college freshman, says that it's not difficult for her to enter drinking establishments like Drew's and Cantina, even if she's still a minor.

"You just act like you're legal," she says, "and they'd probably let you in."

The broken rule

All this happens despite a law that prohibits minors from drinking alcohol.

The Quezon City Liquor Ordinance (NC 85, series of 1989) states, "Persons below 18 years of age are hereby prohibited to drink or take fermented malt, intoxicating liquors, including beer, intoxicating beverages in restaurants, bars, stores, saloons, pavilions and other similar places."

Establishments are responsible for determining whether their customers are minors, particularly by verifying customers' identification cards before serving them drinks.

"Hindi excuse na sabihing, 'Kasi po, akala naming mukha kasing 20 years old na.' Hindi puwede 'yon (It's not an excuse to say that the customers look like they're 20 years old. It's not allowed)," says Dolly Velasco, executive director of the Liquor Licensing and Regulatory Board (LLRB).

This is not the case, however, for establishments in Katipunan.

Although a minor, Guzman says she continues to hang out at Drew's by acting and dressing up like an adult. Roxas also believes that monitoring minors is difficult, and that they manage to get away despite the existing policies.

"Even if they do not wear their IDs, I guess that's still okay," Roxas says.

"I started drinking in second year high school," he adds. "I just change my [school] clothes [so I could enter]."

Early drunks

Another problem is that establishments serve alcohol beyond the prescribed number of hours. The ordinance requires that they only sell liquor between 8 am and 10 pm. They may, however, apply for a special permit for P2,000 to allow them to sell liquor past 10 pm.

Cantina Manager Brigida Santos says that her staff serves alcohol from 5 pm to 2 am and "not during class hours." In a barangay hearing on January 28, however, Ateneo Schools Parents Council member Yvonne Peralta said that she often sees people drinking as early as 1 pm.

According to the ordinance, it is also unlawful for any person to be drunk "while in any public place open to public view." Despite this, minors and adults can be seen drinking in public because of the locations of Katipunan establishments. In the hearing, Peralta added that she often sees these people drinking in Cantina's veranda.

Cantina declined to comment regarding this.

Rule enforcers

Tasked to enforce the liquor ordinance, the LLRB regulates the "selling, serving and dispensing of liquor and other intoxicating beverages in the City," according to the web site of the Quezon City government. It also oversees the establishments' liquor operations with liquor manufacturers, dealers and distillers.

The Board is also responsible for conducting board hearings and formulating alcohol-related policies subject to the City Council's approval.

To regulate the establishments, the Board conducts routine field inspections twice a week. "Our inspectors are fielded to establishments to see if indeed the conditions set forth in the liquor permit are being met," Velasco says.

It also issues liquor regulatory permits to these establishments, which limit the sale of alcoholic beverages even to customers of legal age.

Should there be complaints about establishments breaking the law, the LLRB immediately sends out a team to investigate.

The establishments will be asked to explain their side at the Board's office. If a compromise is reached, the establishments' representatives will sign a written affidavit saying that they will not break the law again. Legal proceedings then become unnecessary.

Velasco says that LLRB revokes the liquor permits and confiscates the alcohol supply of establishments found to be guilty. The Board, however, does not recommend that the establishments be closed.

"The liquor permit that LLRB issues is just incidental to the business," she says in a mix of Filipino and English.

At the court's discretion, they may either pay a P500 fine or be imprisoned, or may receive both forms of punishment.

Vigilance

Velasco says that people should be vigilant in filing complaints regarding the problem to help the LLRB investigate. With the Board's small number of members, she says that it cannot always investigate the city's establishments.

Xavierville residents have already done so by filing a complaint against bars along Xavierville Avenue that serve alcoholic drinks to minors.

Loyola Heights Barangay Captain Caesar Marquez says that residents asked the barangay not to renew the bars' business permits. "That's why, for this year, I haven't given barangay clearances to these establishments," he says in Filipino.

The January 28 hearing, meanwhile, stemmed from a complaint filed by Associate Dean for Student Affairs Rene San Andres after two minors violated school rules under the influence of alcohol. They admitted to drinking at Cantina and Drew's before committing the violations.

Despite these efforts, minors continue to drink alcohol, and only a few actually complain.

"[Most people] tolerate these incidents. Sometimes, Filipinos are like that," Velasco says in a mix of Filipino and English.

San Andres suggests that the barangay require all establishments to ask for an ID or proof of age before serving alcoholic beverages to anyone.

Measures

Beginning April, Loyola Schools students will have a different kind of ID, which will indicate their birthdates. One of its uses is for establishments to be able to determine whether their customers are minors.

"The students are going to be disciplined. Plus, that's part of the information that will come in handy [in determining whether the students are minors]," San Andres says in a mix of Filipino and English.

San Andres is also revising the students' Code of Discipline to penalize students who misbehave outside the campus.

"Kahit nangyari iyan sa labas, kapag apektado ang eskwelahan, tangay ang pangalan (Even if it's outside school, the school's name will be affected)," he says.

The LLRB also created a "Near the School" task force that especially monitors establishments near schools.

Starting February, inspectors will be assigned to various establishments by district, submit their reports to the Board every month, and act on people's complaints.

Taking control

Establishments seem to be taking these issues seriously, and have now taken steps to introduce changes.

Upon entering Drew's, Mikey Blanco (II AB EU) was surprised that its management asked for his ID, when it used to be that anyone can enter Drew's as long he or she had the money.

"Ngayon hindi na. Mas mahirap na (Now it's much harder to get in)," he says.

As for Cantina's, Blanco says that it initially asks for one's ID, but once one becomes a regular, it no longer does.

Blanco says that it was just curiosity that led him to find out for himself what the big hype about alcoholic beverages was.

The thing that he likes about drinking, he says, is how it instantly turns his friends into fun, noisy, and talkative beings. It also enables them to bond. When it comes to school, he says that alcohol enables him to concentrate more and do good in exams because of its calming effect.

However, he says that his elders have always warned him to take in alcohol in moderation.

Despite what the law says, Blanco believes that it's all right for minors to drink as long as they know their limits. "Anything more is already disrespectful to other people," he says.

*Names have been changed to protect the individuals.