DILG’s Año maintains wearing of face masks in Cebu still mandatory

Wearing of face masks in Cebu is still mandatory as the national government does not recognize the executive order issued by Governor Gwen Garcia on the optional wearing of face masks in well-ventilated and open spaces in the province, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said Wednesday.

In a Super Radyo dzBB interview, Año reminded Cebuanos that the pandemic is still prevalent, thus outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte is mandated to enforce the right of people to health.

“Malinaw na ang ginawa ng governor ng Cebu at kanilang Provincial Council ay hindi kinikilala ng national government. That is defective. Kinausap ko din ‘yung ating regional director doon na patuloy silang makipag-ugnayan doon kung pwede pa nilang i-amend ‘yung kanilang EO at ordinansa,” he said.

(It is clear that what the governor of Cebu and their Provincial Council did is not recognized by the national government. That is defective. I also talked to our regional director there to check if these EO and ordinance could still be amended.)

This came after the Cebu provincial board passed the ordinance on third and final reading in a special session on Tuesday, following Garcia's issuance of Executive Order No. 16 that wearing of face masks shall be required only in closed and air-conditioned spaces.

Garcia said she does not recognize the resolution of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on the mandatory wearing of face masks as the law, claiming that the IATF guidelines “doesn’t carry the force of law, not enacted by Congress, nor is that an Executive Order signed by the President.”

This was refuted by Año, saying that local government officials may face charges if they violate the orders of the national government.

“‘Yung EO at saka ordinansa na pinasa ng Cebu government ang talagang walang legal basis kasi dapat ang kanilang mga EO o ordinansa naka-angkla ‘yan sa national policies, pronouncements ng Pangulo, batas, Constitution. ‘Pag wala ‘yan, that is rendered defective at hindi dapat ipatupad ‘yan,” he said.

(The EO and the ordinance passed by the Cebu government have no legal basis because those must be anchored in the national policies, pronouncements of the President, the law, or the Constitution. Without those, that is rendered defective and should not be implemented.)

'Talk to IATF'

Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra advised Garcia and those seeking to make the wearing of face masks optional to approach the IATF.

“Ang kailangan lang naman gawin diyan ni Governor Gwen, or any local government official who feels na pwede na mag-alis ng mask sa kanilang local government unit, ay lumapit sa IATF,” he said at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay.

He advised local officials to present reasons that would back the possible modification of the mask mandate.

“Madaling mag-adjust ang IATF kapag naipakita na merong sufficient scientific basis para mag-take ng particular action. Mabilis kumilos ang IATF. Very dynamic,” Guevarra said.

“’Wag mo nang banggain diretso. Ang gawin mo, lumapit ka na lang sa IATF and make a proposal. And that’s it,” he added.

Meanwhile, he also agreed that Garcia is right in saying that the IATF issues guidelines, saying the agency has no “legal personality.”

“Kaya nga during the IATF meetings, I strongly explained, I explained this to the entire IATF na ang ini-issue natin guidelines. Pero dahil guidelines ‘yan, kailangan magkaroon ng force of law ‘yan,” he said.

(That’s why during the IATF meetings, I strongly explained, I explained to the entire IATF that we are issuing guidelines. Because these are guidelines, they need to have the force of law.)

Guevarra explained that the IATF resolutions must be backed up by an executive order signed by Duterte.

“And that’s what the president exactly did. So nag-issue siya ng mga executive orders effectively adopting and authorizing the IATF to take emergency measures to deal with the pandemic,” he said.

(And that’s exactly what the president did. He issued executive orders effectively adopting and authorizing the IATF to take emergency measures to deal with the pandemic.)

This, according to Guevarra, included the mandatory wearing of face masks, whether indoors or outdoors, during the state of national health emergency.

Acting presidential spokesperson Martin Andanar earlier stressed that wearing of masks and complying with minimum public health standards keep the COVID-19 cases in the country low.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health maintained that minimum public health standards including wearing the best fitting face mask, together with vaccination and boosters have helped keep our COVID-19 case counts low despite the detection of new sub variants. — RSJ/KG, GMA News