Concepcion: Right time to lift indoor mask mandate

MANILA, Philippines —  Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion believes it is the right time to lift the mandates on indoor wearing of face masks and physical distancing as part of post-pandemic recovery.

“I think our problem now is not so much of COVID but ensuring the survival of the economy,” Concepcion said in a statement yesterday.

“There are several factors that are making the case for the lifting of the protocols and I believe that the timing is just right,” he added.

Concepcion made the statement amid mixed reactions on the government’s decision to relax the mandatory wearing of face masks in indoor spaces and calls from the private sector to remove physical distancing rules.

He explained that the country’s tourism sector must be made competitive with its neighbors in Asia vying to attract tourists’ dollars.

“The strong dollar is attracting visitors who stand to get more for their dollar. The other countries know this and they are aware of how important it is to show visitors that they have already moved on from COVID,” Concepcion said.

Earlier this week, Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco said President Marcos would issue an executive order making mask wearing indoors voluntary, except in public transportation, medical transportation and medical facilities, as recommended by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).

But mask wearing would still be “highly encouraged” for unvaccinated individuals, persons with comorbidities as well as senior citizens.

“As a result of the Cabinet meeting this morning, it was agreed that the President would be issuing an executive order, per the IATF recommendation, to make indoor mask-wearing also voluntary all over the Philippines, with a few exceptions,” Frasco said at a Palace briefing.

As for physical distancing rules, Concepcion said they don’t make sense at this point, explaining that limiting capacities can hinder attempts by businesses to achieve enough revenue, especially during the holiday season when economic activity is expected to be at its peak.

“The numbers from the large corporations in terms of profitability are going down, so you can just imagine what the MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) are going through right now,” he said.

“Consumption is very important at this point, and with our own kababayans struggling with high prices, we have to bring in the consumer spending from outside, which are the tourists,” he added.

Responding to concerns that amid the detection of the Omicron subvariants XBB and XBC and the low boostering rates the timing of lifting indoor face masks and distancing mandates may lead to a rise in cases, Concepcion explained that people can still choose to wear their face masks and distance themselves from people.

“The key word to remember here is ‘mandatory’. People can still choose to wear their face masks and keep a safe distance from other people. If they are not confident about their protection, they can continue to observe the protocols. No one is forcing them,” he said.

The Go Negosyo founder added that the population may have acquired natural immunity from the previous waves of infection.

“The infection waves go up and then they go down. This must mean that we have some natural immunity already as we are seeing fewer severe cases,” he said. “I also think that people know now what to do if they get infected, and that is to get tested and to isolate.”

Concepcion, however, makes an exception for public transportation.

“The way it is right now, it’s impossible to maintain distancing there and you have too many people coming from different places packed closely together (so face mask is necessary),” he said.