NCR mayors to recommend scrapping of face shields; Manila City eases face shield policy

Commuters sport face shields while riding the LRT Line 2 coach in Quezon City on Nov. 3, 2021. The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases eyes scrapping the mandatory wearing of face shield policy in connection with the downtrend in COVID-19 cases in the country, Malacañang spokesperson Harry Roque said in a briefing.
The STAR/Miguel de Guzman

MANILA, Philippines — Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chairman Benhur Abalos said mayors in the National Capital Region will recommend to the national pandemic task force to lift the order for mandatory wearing of face shields except in “critical settings.”

On the same day, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno said the wearing of face shields is no longer mandatory in the capital except in medical settings.

On DZBB, MMDA chairman Benhur Abalos said Metro Manila mayors discussed that face shields can be removed “except for critical places such as in hospitals, like when going barangay health centers and even in public transport.”

Abalos said he will raise this to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

“So, there, we are supporting the position [Interior Secretary Eduardo Año] on this,” he added in Filipino.

DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said last week that Año will be proposing the removal of face shields, but he added that the decision will still be up to the IATF.

Manila Mayor Moreno meanwhile issued Executive Order 42 directing the non-mandatory wearing of face shields “except in hospital setting, medical clinics and other medical facilities which shall remain to be mandatory.”

The Manila mayor also went live on Facebook to say that the EO is effective immediately on Monday.

“I’m calling all establishments, malls, business, directors and enforcement units… [that they be] informed by now and we will announce again in our social media,” he said.

Moreno also said that this would help lessen the spending of the people buying face shields.

He added that active cases in Manila are now down to 324, and the capital has so far inoculated more than 25,000 minors aged 12 to 17 years olds as the government ramps up its vaccination drive. — Kristine Joy Patag

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