Expert: Not yet time to ease health rules

MASK ON | Residents of Mandaue City, like this group of friends crossing the Mandaue-Mactan bridge, wear their face masks outdoors to comply with health protocols issued by the local government. (Photo by DALE ISRAEL / Inquirer Visayas)

MANILA, Philippines — A member of the government’s vaccine expert panel on Tuesday warned that the relaxation of minimum public health protocols, such as the mandatory wearing of face masks, was “very dangerous” as it could lead to fewer people taking their booster shots and the more vulnerable getting hospitalized due to severe COVID-19.

Speaking during the televised Laging Handa public briefing, Dr. Rontgene Solante, an infectious diseases expert, cited Cebu City’s policy of making the wearing of face masks outdoors optional.

“I’m not in favor of lifting or making wearing of face mask outdoors optional because of the low population with booster shots in the general public. And secondly, COVID-19 is still here, we still have community transmission, and this measure [in Cebu City] is very dangerous,” he said.

But Solante said he was hoping that the Cebu City government’s decision to conduct a trial run on the new policy until December would be successful and that no one among the vulnerable population would become seriously sick with COVID.

On Monday, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama signed Executive Order No. 6, amending his previous EO by setting the effectivity period of his optional face mask policy from Sept. 1 to Dec. 31. Also under the new EO, the optional face mask policy would be automatically lifted if COVID-19 cases surge in the city.

The decision of the national pandemic task force whether it will allow local governments to make mask wearing optional, at least outdoors, will be issued this week, said Interior Secretary Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos Jr.

Respecting process

In an interview on CNN Philippines on Tuesday, Abalos stressed the need for national laws and local ordinances to be harmonized to avoid chaos in implementation.

He said he had already spoken with Rama on the implementation of his EO making face mask wearing “nonobligatory” in Cebu City.

“If everyone will do as he (Rama) wishes, we will be in disarray. What is important is we have a process here,” Abalos said, noting that he already raised the issue before the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) during their meeting on Monday.

“We respect local autonomy, of course. But we’ve got the national laws and the local laws which we are trying to harmonize right now. Probably by the end of the week, we (the IATF) will come out with the decision [on what steps will be taken],” he added.

“All the mayors want something good for our own constituency. But please, it is important that we move as one,” said Abalos, a former mayor of Mandaluyong City and chair of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority before he was appointed to lead the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

Abalos said he could not divulge what was discussed during the IATF meeting on Monday, but described it as “fruitful and productive.”

He said the issue “is being discussed and studied right now,” with some members seeing the merit of allowing the lifting of face masks in outdoor settings.

Abalos earlier said he would also propose to make Cebu City “the pilot implementer” of the rule on the optional wearing of face masks.

But Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, the officer in charge of the Department of Health, shot down Cebu City’s new rule, saying the agency was not consulted about it.

Rama insisted on enforcing the EO, saying the city government does not need to seek approval from the national government to implement policies, citing the autonomy provided under the Local Government Code.

Mandaue ordinance

In Cebu province, Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes on Monday said he was no longer interested in following Cebu City’s lead in relaxing its rule on wearing face masks.

Mandaue, Cortes said, has an existing face mask ordinance that must be amended.

“We cannot afford to gamble or take chances, and per our health board, we must be compliant in our ordinance,” he said.

Cortes, however, said he was open to lifting the rule should the city council repeals or amends the face mask ordinance, which fines violators P5,000. Solante warned local governments against “very drastic” modifications of minimum public health protocols.

“Firstly, there should be close coordination with the DOH, especially the national government, in terms of implementing such policies that are very drastic, in terms of involving the protection of people, like [the wearing of] face mask,” he said.

He pointed out that the national government had already allowed people to go out of their houses and engage in different activities.

“But we always say that if there is a policy that will be the last to be removed, it will always be the health protocols, and included there is the wearing of face masks, whether indoor or outdoor,” he said.

RELATED STORIES

Cebu City sets ‘trial period’ for optional mask use outdoors

DOH unaware of Cebu City’s ‘trial period’ for optional use of face masks

DILG admits ‘miscommunication’ with Cebu City gov’t on optional mask use policy