Cebu City eyes lifting of mandatory face mask rule

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama on Wednesday said he is planning to sign an executive order lifting the mandatory face mask policy against COVID-19 in the city.

In a television interview, Rama said his staff is now finalizing details of the executive order, but noted that they “are not getting into anything in haste.”

He also said the city government is gearing the economy but is still conscious of the COVID-19 requirements so as to not cause additional health problems.

“Looking forward, as far as COVID-19 data we have, we are very much in our level of comfort. We have almost a million having been inoculated and we will not stop. We will continue the vaccination because vaccination is the way to liberation,” Rama told CNN Philippines.

“But as far as matter on face masks, we must have to look at it already with the point of view of practicability, and balancing economy and healthcare concern,” he added.

Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia had received backlash from government officials when she issued an executive order on the optional wearing of face masks in well-ventilated and open spaces in the province.

The Cebu provincial board also passed an ordinance regarding the lifting of mandatory face mask policy.

Former Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra earlier said the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) resolution on the mandatory wearing of face masks shall prevail over executive orders issued by local government units.

For its part, the Department of Health (DOH) also stressed that minimum public health standards, such as wearing the best fitting face mask, together with vaccination and boosters, help keep the country’s COVID-19 case counts low despite the detection of new subvariants. —KBK, GMA News