MANILA, Philippines — Taking the lead of the Department of Health, the Department of the Interior and Local Government balked at the recent order doing away with the face mask requirement in Cebu and reiterated President Rodrigo Duterte's stance that they are still mandatory.
This comes after Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia issued Thursday Executive Order No. 16 that makes the wearing of face masks outdoors and in open spaces not mandatory.
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In a statement sent to reporters Friday morning, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said that President Rodrigo Duterte directed the continuation of the requirement of face masks as it threatened that cops would still "arrest, if necessary" those complying with the local executive order issued by their governor.
"This Department does not recognize the Executive Order issued by Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia because we have the IATF Guidelines approved by the President," he said.
"The Philippine National Police will continue to confront, apprehend, and arrest, if necessary, all violators of IATF Guidelines and MPHS in the Province of Cebu."
As it currently stands, IATF protocols allow only for specific instances when masks can be taken off, such as eating or during well-ventilated activities. President Duterte has also said that the mandatory face masks will stay until the end of his term on June 30.
"Adherence to minimum public health standards is the key to defeating this pandemic," Año also said in his statement.
"Wearing face masks, together with vaccination and boosters have helped keep our COVID-19 case counts low despite the detection of new subvariants. Scientific evidence worldwide proves that the use of face masks reduces the transmission not only of COVID-19 but also of other infectious and respiratory diseases including Monkeypox, should it reach our country."
However, scientific evidence also shows that being outside greatly reduces risk of infection with the coronavirus. Garcia for her part also said that the new issuance is a "necessary step," pointing out that other countries such as Singapore are implementing similar policies.
”Those who are unwell and manifest symptoms of COVID, such as fever, cough or runny nose are required to wear mask at all times whenever they leave their homes,” her signed EO added.
The DILG also reminded the public and local government units that COVID-19 is still present. "Individuals can still catch the virus, most especially our senior citizens and vulnerable population. We should therefore be vigilant, continue our adherence to all MPHS and get vaccinated or boosted immediately," the interior chief said.
This is not the first time the national government butt heads with Garcia's local government. Last year, she issued policies on returning Filipinos that were contrary to existing IATF protocols, which she later decided to scrap in favor of the task force's rules.