Wearing of face masks now optional in Cebu

PROVINCIAL LAWMAKERS have backed Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia’s executive order making the use of face masks optional in well ventilated and open spaces in Cebu province.

The Provincial Board, presided by Vice Governor Hilario Davide III, has passed and approved a law that rationalizes the wearing of face masks within Cebu. The ordinance, authored by Board member John Ismael Borgonia, is has been certified by Garcia as urgent and shall be applicable to all individuals, residents and non-residents within the province. 

The ordinance makes it optional for people to wear masks in well-ventilated and open spaces and it is no longer an offense not to wear face masks outdoor.

“People would go out sa ilang tagsa-tagsa ka balay, dili na sila mahadlok nga posible nga dakpon sila sa law enforcers kay naa na man ni nga ordinance nga atong gipalabang,” Borgonia said. 

Cebuanos also hailed the law and Garcia and are strongly supporting them. The ordinance ratifies Garcia’s Executive Order No. 16 issued on June 8 which makes the wearing of face masks no longer made mandatory, but only optional in well-ventilated and open spaces. 

Ordinance 

Under Section 3 of the ordinance, the following guidelines have to be properly observed: 

a. Wearing of face masks in air-conditioned/closed spaces. The wearing of face masks shall be required in closed and/or air-conditioned spaces. 

b. Wearing of face masks in well-ventilated/open spaces. The use of face masks shall be optional in well-ventilated and open spaces. However, persons are still highly encouraged to continue to wear their masks especially in crowded outdoor areas. 

c. Wearing of face masks for persons with Covid-19 symptoms. Persons who are unwell with symptoms of the Covid-19 such as fever, cough, runny nose, are required to wear a mask at all times if they need to leave their homes. 

Firm 

Garcia also told CNN Philippines that she is not backing down from her executive order, especially now that the Provincial Board approved the ordinance into law. She said any resolution issued by the national government's pandemic response team is not tantamount to an enforceable law.

She reiterated that the resolutions being issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) are merely recommendatory in nature, adding even the IATF recognizes that its resolutions are neither equivalent to laws created and passed by Congress nor any executive order.

But Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said IATF resolutions prevail over executive orders issued by local governments.

“It is still a guideline. I don’t think Sec. Menardo Guevarra has been quite forthright in trying to confuse an executive order of the President himself and guidelines issued by the IATF which in fact enjoins LGUs to issue the necessary ordinances so that they may impose penalties in order for their guidelines to be implemented,” Garcia said.

“It’s time someone says it out loud. We have just kept quiet and submissive to any statement by these personalities who have taken upon themselves the force of law. Now I wish to ask: Are we a nation of laws, or are we a nation of powerful men?” Garcia said.

She also claimed that even the June 4 resolution titled “Guidelines on the Nationwide Implementation of Alert Level System for Covid-19 Response” do not contain any penalty clause for violators that makes it tantamount to law.

Warning

The Department of the Interior and Local Government also warned Cebuanos against not wearing face masks even in open spaces, saying the national government does not recognize Garcia’s order nor the ordinance approved by the Provincial Board.

The Philippine National Police said it would arrest people not wearing face masks in open spaces.

Garcia said authorities cannot simply arrest any violator on the street and send him to a jail that is already crammed, potentially increasing Covid-19 infections.

According to GMA News, Interior Undersecretary Epimaco Densing said they are looking at issuing a show-cause order against Garcia for insisting on her executive order.

But Garcia said: “I would rather answer to the 1.4 million Cebuanos that have given me a resounding vote of trust and confidence. If in the end, as what media would wish to project, I hope that is not what Usec Densing wants to say, they would issue a show-cause order, that’s a small price to pay for living up and owning up to my responsibility in taking care of 1.4 million Cebuanos.”

Garcia also released Memorandum Number 13 reminding local mayors and those in authority to never impose policies that are discriminatory against those who choose not to receive anti-Covid 19 jabs. 

She said the memorandum protects the rights of unvaccinated individuals whose vaccination status could jeopardize their employment security, or school and other government transactions. It, moreover, specifically forbids officials of the Department of Education from discriminating against unvaccinated teachers, parents, and students. (Cebu Examiner, CNN, Ioannes Arong)