Poe: Vehicle face mask rules for household members unrealistic

Senator Grace Poe on Friday urged the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to rethink its policy requiring individuals inside vehicles to wear face masks even if they are from the same household.

According to Poe, the order was “ludicrous and unrealistic.”

“The car is like an extension of the family’s house. As long as there are no strangers inside it, it can be considered as their private bubble,” the senator said in a statement.

Poe issued the remark days after the Land Transportation Office (LTO) said persons inside private or public vehicles must wear face masks as protection against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

The policy was based on an IATF-EID decision.

“Wearing a face mask should be required in public transportation and carpooling, but not inside private vehicles carrying members of the same household,” argued Poe.

Though the LTO previously said that they would not apprehend nor impose fines for violators of the policy, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) earlier said policy-makers will discuss its implementation as well as the fines and penalties that will be imposed on violators.

The DOH and the DOTr have also issued guidelines on the wearing of face masks.

Poe said she would ask concerned authorities to explain the issue during a virtual hearing on Private Motor Vehicle Inspection Centers and child car seat law on Tuesday, February 9. — DVM, GMA News