MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health said Wednesday it is not yet time to ditch face masks after the Cebu City government issued an order making the use of masks voluntary in most places.
Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama signed an executive order making the wearing of face masks a voluntary act within the city, except in hospitals, clinics and other medical facilities.
Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, officer-in-charge of the DOH, said the agency was not consulted about the lifting of the mandatory face mask rule as she stressed the need for a "one nation approach" against the ongoing pandemic.
“I always say a city within a country cannot act on its own… Hindi pwedeng ang isang lugar sa ating bansa ay nagpapatupad ng kanilang protocol, samantalang the rest of the country is implementing the other side of the protocol o magkaiba because we have porous borders,” she said in a briefing.
(It can’t be that an area is implementing its own protocol, while the rest of the country is implementing the other side of the protocol or differently because we have porous borders.)
The health official noted that using face masks reduces the risk of contracting COVID-19 by between 70% and 80%
A copy of the Cebu City executive order will be sent to the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
Malacañang said that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. does not have a reaction to Cebu City’s policy shift yet.
"We respect the mandate of local governments over their own jurisdictions," Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said.
'Small sacrifice'
The officer-in-charge of the DOH warned against complacency and reiterated the need to follow public health safeguards even as the number of COVID-19 cases continued to decline.
“Ang pagsusuot ng mask ay kaunting sakripisyo lang para maproteksyunan natin ang sarili natin at pag naproteksyunan natin ang ating sarili, napo-proteksyunan din natin ang ating kapamilya,” Vergeire said.
(Wearing a mask is just a small sacrifice to protect ourselves. When we protect ourselves, we can also protect our family members.)
“Dadating tayo sa punto na maaari nang tanggalin ang mask kapag nasigurado na ng gobyerno na protektado ang mamamayang Pilipino ng mga bakunang binibigay natin sa komunidad,” she added.
(We will get to the point where masks can be removed when the government makes sure that the Filipino people are protected by the vaccines given to our community.) — with a report from Jonathan de Santos