Gwen: Scrap face shield rule

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said she wants to ditch out the “impractical” policy of wearing face shields in the public transportation sector.

Garcia plans to meet with officials of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) in Central Visayas to discuss the possible scrapping of the face shield policy.

“I will speak with RD (Regional Director Victor) Caindec and RD (Eduardo) Montealto so that we will also take that away. In fact, I was very vocal in saying nga let us be more understanding to our public transport,” Garcia told reporters during her live press conference yesterday.

LTFRB Memorandum Circular No. 2020-031 requires “all drivers, conductors, and passengers of PUVs to wear face mask and face shields/eye protectors inside PUVs.”

The circular adds, “Failure to wear face mask and face shield/ eye protectors shall be reasonable ground to refuse/deny boarding in any PUV.”

“Kanang face shield ipatangtang na sad na nato oy. Grabiha, we are the only country in the world weraring face mask, (then) face shield. Unsa man, bati na gyud kaayo ta’g nawong? Tabunan na gani og mask, butangan pa gyud og face shield?” Garcia said.

The governor furthered that drivers should not be penalized if passengers are seen not wearing protective gears inside the PUVs.

“How can you expect the driver to insist that the passenger continues to wear face mask and face shield? Asa man diay siya magtan-aw? Magsige na lang na siya og lingi oy.. samot na na og kakuyaw. Nag-drive man na siya that is not his (main duty),” Garcia said.

“So it should not be that it is the public transport that is penalized if the passenger does not wear. Let’s go easy on them if they are not wearing give them a face mask but it shouldn’t be punitive,” she added.

The driver's primary obligation, she said, is to transport safely the passengers to their point of destination and not to check from time to time if the passengers are wearing face mask or face shield.

Garcia said she has long been “silently advocating” for the ditching of the policy requiring the wearing of face shield.

In fact, she said that in her recent executive orders on the guidelines of operations of the commercial establishments when Cebu was put under General Community Quarantine (GCQ) this year, she did not require the wearing of face shield. — JMD (FREEMAN)