Concepcion to Cebu gov’t: Follow Duterte’s order on masking for now

ALL COVERED People continue to wear face masks as they attend the culmination of the National Service Training Program at the St. Francis of Assisi open grounds in the City of Naga in south Cebu on June 10, a day after Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia lifted the mandatory wearing of masks in open places in the province. —MARY GRACE OBERES

MANILA, Philippines — While he agrees that wearing face masks outdoors should no longer be mandatory but encouraged instead, Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion on Friday said Cebu province should just follow for now the rules set by the present administration.

Concepcion made the statement following the order of Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia allowing the optional use of masks in the province in outdoor and well-ventilated spaces. Garcia’s order was later formalized through an ordinance by the Cebu Provincial Board.

Concepcion said Cebu should just respect and follow the current rules set by the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, especially with just a few weeks left in office.

When the administration of President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos assumes office, Concepcion said Cebu can then propose that the mandatory use of masks outdoors be lifted.

“Yes, but I think with due respect to the governor, maybe we should just follow the President’s directive. Anyway, there’s a couple of weeks left and let us respect that decision and then when the next administration comes into place, let’s discuss it with President-elect Marcos and make him make the decision,” he said in an interview over ABS CBN News Channel when asked is he agrees with the Cebu order to lift mandatory masking outdoors.

“I feel that out of due respect to this administration, we should follow the rules, anyway it’s just a couple of weeks. I feel that maybe we should just give President Duterte that leeway and respect his decision,” Concepcion added.

He added that he agrees that local government units should decide on the enforcement of mandatory masking but maintained that “out of respect we should just follow the orders and move on from there.”

“I believe that under the leadership of President Marcos, yes, they will be open to this idea and many other ideas,” he said.

For his part, Concepcion said the country should already shift its mindset that “this pandemic is moving towards being endemic,” saying the “rest of the world is doing the same thing.”

He said the government should look at hospitalization utilization rates instead of daily infection numbers.

Concepcion earlier said the government should already lift the state of public health emergency that has been imposed since the early stages of the pandemic.

He also said that the current alert level system for COVID-19 should also be removed.

/MUF

/abc