Prolonged ?happy hours? in establishments across Taguig City are now over with the return of the liquor curfew from 2:30 a.m. to 6:30 a.m.

Business Permit and Licensing Office chief Jeffe Minglana said business owners have been informed that the one-hour extension no longer applied as of Jan. 15.

Under City Ordinance 36 approved July last year, videoke bars, restaurants, caf?s, nightclubs and similar establishments are given until 2 a.m. to sell and serve liquors to customers. They are required to remain under lock and key 2:30 a.m. until 6:30 a.m.

For retail and convenience stores, no liquor should be sold beyond 10 p.m., a measure city officials described as targetted to tackle alcohol-related crimes.

On Nov. 15 last year, Mayor Freddie Tinga relaxed the liquor curfew in deference to the extended holiday merrymaking.

The sale and serving of liquor was allowed until 3 a.m.; closing time was moved to 3:30 a.m.

Neighborhood variety stores could sell alcoholic products until 11 p.m.

With the restrictions in place, Tinga said he has ordered Minglana to monitor compliance with the liquor curfew.

?This ordinance does not seek to intervene in business operations, but just to curb alcohol-related crimes by regulating the sale and serving of liquors particularly during the unholy hours,? he said.

He also called on the business community to take an active role in the all-out war against illegal drugs and criminality amid reports that nightspots served as trading posts of syndicates.

?We call on our partners from the private sector to do their share and be responsible in cleaning up their backyards,? said Tinga. Ferdinand Fabella