In a media briefing, Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the DOH wasn’t consulted by the Cebu provincial government before it decided to issue the directive.
All local governments, she also stressed, should follow IATF rules.
“Specifically stated in our IATF resolutions, all public and private sectors, and all units under each of these government agencies, including local governments, should comply and abide with the protocols of IATF,” Vergeire emphasized.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 10) — A national government agency on Friday overruled the executive order signed by Cebu Province Gov. Gwen Garcia that makes it optional for the public to wear face masks outdoors if they don’t have COVID-19 symptoms.
Department of Interior and Local Government Sec. Eduardo Año rejected Garcia’s controversial order, warning those who will not wear face masks outdoors will be apprehended or even arrested by police.
The health official reiterated the DOH’s position that face masks should still be worn even outdoors, as this is scientifically proven to help prevent not only COVID-19 infection, but also cases of other viral and respiratory diseases.
DILG also reiterated President Rodrigo Duterte’s stance that the mask mandate should prevail until his term ends on June 30.
“This Department does not recognize the Executive Order issued by Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia because we have the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force) Guidelines approved by the President,” Año said in a statement.
“Maliit na sakripisyo para maprotektahan […] ang ating komunidad ay sana po ay ‘wag po nating kontrahin,” she expressed. “Dahan-dahan lang po tayo, hinay-hinay makakarating din po tayo sa gusto natin na new normal.”
Current IATF protocols allow only for specific instances when masks can be taken off, such as when eating or during some well-ventilated sports and activities.
Last year, Garcia also issued policies contrary to IATF protocols, particularly on getting rid of mandatory quarantine for returning Filipinos, but she later decided to follow the task force’s rules.
[Translation: This is just a small sacrifice to protect our community, so let’s please not defy the protocol. Let’s take the steps gradually, and we’ll eventually reach the new normal we’re aiming for.]
The Cebu provincial government is the first local government to scrap the face mask rule, one of the primary health protocols set by national authorities to stem coronavirus transmission.
Garcia said it is a “necessary step towards the new normal” as she pointed out that other countries, including Singapore, are now implementing the same policy.
Cebu province is under Alert Level 2 until June 15, while most parts of the country, including Metro Manila, have been placed under the most lenient Alert Level 1 status.
Cebu governor refuses to yield
However, the Cebu governor said she will not withdraw her controversial policy.
Garcia, instead, instructed the provincial police not to apprehend those not wearing face masks, as long as they are in open and well-ventilated spaces.
Instead of arrests, authorities should give face masks to those without one, she added.
“I am calling on the PNP (Philippine National Police) to make no such apprehensions,” Garcia said in a press conference.
The governor maintained her policy was not made on a “capricious whim,” arguing it is based on existing laws.
She particularly invoked Section 105 of the Local Government Code, which states that in case of a public health emergency, the national government only has up to six months of direct control over the health operations of local government units – unless the concerned local government unit agrees that the period be extended.
“Now, it has been two years,” Garcia said. “And I am ready now to test that. Local autonomy must prevail especially since it is us who know what our situation here is.”
CNN Philippines’ Lara Tan, Kristel Limpot, and Cebu-based Correspondent Dale Israel contributed to this report.
