CEBU City mayor Michael Rama yesterday amended his controversial executive order that made the wearing of face masks in the city “non-obligatory.”
Under the three-page Executive Order (EO) No. 6 Series of 2022 which Rama signed on Monday, the regulation will be adopted until December 31 this year, which he said will be referred to as a “trial and observation period.”
EO No. 6 states that the wearing of face mask will be made mandatory again if there is a surge in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the city.
“In case of surge of the number of COVID-19 infection in the City of Cebu as verified by pertinent indicative, reliable and official data of the government in coordination with other institution, this executive order shall be automatically lifted and the use of and wearing of face mask will automatically mandatory upon all persons,” it said.
The new executive order amended EO No. 5 Series of 2022, which took effect upon its signing last August 31, which states that the wearing of face mask in the city is already non-obligatory.
The order also said the wearing of the face protection is mandatory only in hospitals, clinics and other medical of diagnostic facilities and among persons who are immuno-compromised.
It also granted all establishments, businesses, and entities in the city the discretion to require the wearing of face mask in their areas.
On Thursday last week, Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos said Rama has agreed to his request to put on hold the implementation of the order, but Rama later said he was going to continue implementing the order.
On Friday, Abalos said “there seems to be a miscommunication as to what Mayor Rama and I discussed regarding the issue.” Abalos said he will keep the communication lines between him and Rama open to allow the mayor to explain his position and the basis of his order.
Current guidelines of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases require people to wear face mask when in public spaces. People are only allowed to take off their face mask when eating or during certain well-ventilated sports and activities.
The Department of Health (DOH) said it is open to reaching a compromise with the Cebu City government with regards its face mask policy.
In a press conference, DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said: “Our position would be: We have some conditions for us to be able to ease some restrictions. We will conduct discussions so that we can reach a compromise with the national agencies, and we can also balance health and economy.”
Vergeire admitted, though, that if it were only up to the DOH, they would rather stick to scientific evidence before easing restrictions against COVID-19.
“The science will be there. We will position for the science… (And) based on science, the face mask provides 70 to 80 percent protection against COVID-19,” said the health official.
She, however, assured the public that the DOH is one with everybody in wanting to further relax protocols and restrictions.
“If such conditions of increased vaccine coverage, stable number of cases, will be met, we will get to that point. (But) we will do this in a phased approach. We will not be hasty,” said Vergeire.
Dr. Ted Herbosa, during the Laging Handa public briefing, said the wearing of face masks should still be followed amid the continued presence of the virus, or at least until the health situation has stabilized and more people have received their booster.
“Ako ay pumapanig ako doon sa pag-continue muna ng pagsuot ng mask until ma-stabilize natin iyong numero ng mga kaso, tumaas iyong lebel ng mga tao na nagpa-booster (I agree with the continued use of the face mask until the number of cases stabilized, and the level of people who received their booster had gone up),” he said. — With Gerard Naval and Jocelyn Montemayor
