MANILA, Philippines (Updated 11:35 a.m.) — The Department of the Interior and Local Government said Thursday that Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama has agreed to put an order relaxing the requrement on wearing face masks on hold.
"Mayor Mike agreed to temporarily put this executive order on hold by virtue of my commitment to bring the matter to the IATF for deliberation," DILG Secretary Benhur Abalos said in a statement.
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In an interview on radio dzBB, Mayor Rama clarified that the executive order does not abandon the use of face masks but only makes it "non-obligatory, more or less as a general rule."
He stressed that people who are immunocompromised or are sick or have flu-like symptoms are advised to stay at home and will still need to wear masks outdoors.
"I-check mo yung executive order ko (Check the executive order I signed)," he said, adding he was not deferring validity of the order. "Of course, of course, of course," he said when asked to categorically say whether the EO remains in place.
Abalos also asked other local executives to defer the implementation of similar policies until the matter is discussed by the IATF.
This was after Rama signed an executive order making the wearing of face masks a voluntary act in most places in Cebu City, except in hospitals, clinics and other medical facilities despite the ongoing health crisis.
The Department of Health also opposed the policy shift, saying it is not yet time to ditch the use of face masks even as the number of COVID-19 cases continued to decline.
The agency’s officer-in-charge, Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, also stressed Thursday the need for a “one nation approach” as the country battles the pandemic.
“Wearing a mask is just a small sacrifice to protect ourselves. When we protect ourselves, we can also protect our family members,” Vergeire said in Filipino.
But the DILG chief said he will suggest to the IATF to make Cebu City the pilot implementer of the measure declaring the use of face masks non-obligatory.
Abalos said “the city has always been first in espousing non-masking policies outdoors for the ease and benefits of its people amid the pandemic.”