DILG nixes proposal to do away with face shields

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) is not keen on dropping the policy mandating the wearing of face shields in public, as suggested by Manila City Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso.

DILG spokesperson Jonathan Malaya on Thursday said it is not yet time to do away with the face shield policy since the pandemic still persists and the country has yet to achieve so-called population protection, which entails vaccination of at least 50 million individuals against COVID-19.

“Hindi pa siguro panahon para tanggalin ang face shield dahil hindi pa tayo nakakalabas sa pandemya. Wala pa tayo sa lebel na tinatawag sa herd protection o public protection na makukuha kapag umabot sa 50 million na vaccinations,” he said in a Laging Handa briefing.

(Maybe it is not yet time to remove the face shields because we are still in a pandemic. We are not yet at the level of herd protection or public protection which will be achieved once 50 million vaccinations are done.)

READ: Wearing of face shield now required in public places

Malaya said face shields add another layer of protection against COVID-19. If this will be removed, it should be replaced with another form of protection, which Malaya said is the vaccine.

“We will be guided by science in all of our decisions. I’m sure IATF and the Department of Health will study this very carefully. Kailangan pag-aralan mabuti dahil laging nakaabang ang another surge. Let us keep our guards up and study very carefully,” he said.

KGA