MANILA, Philippines — Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama has found an ally in Camarines Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte, who is seeking a relaxation in the government’s policy on the use of face masks as protection from COVID-19.
In a statement, Villafuerte said he backs Rama’s move to lift the obligatory use of masks in open spaces.
At this point, health authorities should decide “whether to lift the government policy on the mandatory use of face masks as part of national efforts to adapt to the ‘new normal’ and reduce the country’s economic scarring from the lingering COVID-19 pandemic,” according to the Bicolano lawmaker.
The other option, he emphasized, is for the government to look into handing out free face masks to poor and low-income families if it insists on keeping the mask mandate amid the health crisis.
“The obligatory use of new face masks every day is honored anyway more in the breach by poor Filipinos, many of whom save on their daily living expenses by putting on their masks for a week or two before replacing them,” Villafuerte said.
He added that the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) could recommend to Malacañang a compromise policy keeping the masking requirement only in Metro Manila and other places with still high COVID-19 caseloads.
On the other hand, local government units (LGUs) in low-risk areas can decide if they want to make masking voluntary.
Villafuerte said there are other options that can be considered, such as requiring the use of masks in public transportation, high-risk areas like hospitals and indoor places with air conditioning.
“It’s probably the right time to reconsider the rigid mask-use protocol as part of national efforts under the ‘new normal’ to speed up our recovery from the over-two-year pandemic and keep to a minimum our economy’s scarring from the global crisis spawned by COVID-19,” he added.
Compromise
Meanwhile, the Department of Health (DOH) yesterday said it is open to reaching a compromise with the Cebu City government with regard to its “non-obligatory face mask” policy.
At a press conference, DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said they are willing to engage in a discussion with the LGU after meeting with IATF.
“Our position would be: we have some conditions for us to be able to ease some restrictions. We will conduct discussions so that we can reach a compromise with the national agencies, so that we can also balance health and economy,” Vergeire said.
She admitted, though, that if it were only up to the DOH, they would rather stick to scientific evidence in easing restrictions against COVID-19.
“The science will be there. We will position for the science... Based on science, the face mask provides 70-percent to 80-percent protection from COVID-19,” she said.
The DOH is one with everybody in wanting to further ease protocols and restrictions, according to the health official.
“If such conditions of increased vaccine coverage, stable number of cases will be met, we will get to that point, though we will do this in a phased approach. We will not be hasty,” she said.
In response to Rama’s “non-obligatory face mask use,” the DOH said it disagrees with the decision of the city government that goes against the existing national mandate.
Masking backed
Former National Task Force against COVID-19 special adviser Ted Herbosa yesterday backed the mandatory use of face masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Herbosa, currently a professor of emergency medicine and trauma surgery at the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital, said he agrees with the World Health Organization and the DOH that face masks prevent the transmission of COVID-19.
“I’m in favor of continuing wearing of face masks until we stabilize the number of cases, increase the level of people who get boosters,” he told a public briefing.
For Herbosa, this is not the right time to remove the face mask requirement, given the low COVID-19 booster vaccination rate in the country.
“I think, for us who still have a low booster rate … we should really continue to wear masks,” he said.
“At least higher than 50 percent, because now, (the COVID-19 booster vaccination rate) is only at 24 percent,” he added.
Herbosa warned that the new policy in Cebu City might trigger a rise in the number of infections.
“If I were an LGU or a local chief executive, I would ask the DOH’s opinion on such a suggestion. If they do this, they should also be ready to respond to the increase in (the number of) cases in their LGUs,” he said.
Last Sunday, the DOH recorded 2,321 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the country’s number of active cases to 24,067. – Rhodina Villanueva, Helen Flores