Palace to respect LGUs’ mandate within jurisdiction as Cebu City drops mandatory face masks
MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang is respecting the mandate of local governments over their own jurisdictions, it said Wednesday in response to Cebu City’s executive order lifting the mandatory wearing of face masks policy.
In the executive order, wearing face masks was voluntary only in most places, except in medical facilities.
READ: Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama signs on Wednesday an executive order making the wearing of face mask non-obligatory within its jurisdiction starting Thursday, Sept. 1.
Here is a copy of the Executive Order No. 5 series of 2022. | via Wenilyn Sabalo/ @cebudailynews pic.twitter.com/rtkksQpdEg
— Inquirer (@inquirerdotnet) August 31, 2022
Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has no reaction yet as to the matter.
“We respect the mandate of local governments over their own jurisdictions. The President has no reaction to this as of yet,” she said in a Palace briefing.
READ: Cebu City mulls lifting mandatory face masks requirement in open spaces
In June this year, the Cebu provincial government lifted the mandatory wearing of face masks in open and outdoor spaces through an executive order signed by Governor Gwen Garcia.
However, the Department of Health (DOH) reiterated that the government’s pandemic task force only allows taking off face masks during “specific instances” like eating.
It maintained that “best-fitting face masks” effectively reduce coronavirus transmission, as supported by scientific evidence.
Moreover, Malacañang and then Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra asserted that the directive of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), which is to retain the mandatory face mask policy, will prevail over any orders of the local government unit.
READ: Palace: IATF’s face mask rule to prevail over LGU orders
However, to further strengthen the position of the Cebu province, its provincial board has adopted Garcia’s executive order into an ordinance.
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