Cebu governor insists on requiring workers to use personal air purifiers

Graphic by Ed Lustan

CEBU CITY, Cebu, Philippines — Before it was “tuob.” Now, the provincial government is promoting the use of handy air purifiers.

Employees who work in air-conditioned and poorly ventilated establishments are being required to wear these gadgets around their necks, supposedly as added protection against the coronavirus.

Offices and shops are also required to install high-efficiency particulate air (Hepa) filters and ionizers, as well as to sterilize their premises using ultraviolet germicidal light after business hours.

The new policy, however, doesn’t sit well with labor and militant groups who consider it another financial burden on ordinary wage-earners who must buy such items, whose effectiveness in stopping the spread of COVID-19 remains questionable.

In her Executive Order No. 42 issued on Sept. 7, Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia said employees of all establishments allowed to operate under general community quarantine (GCQ) must wear face masks and personal air purifiers at all times. Cebu is currently under “GCQ with heightened restrictions.”

Last month, she also required drivers and conductors of public utility vehicles to wear personal air purifiers while at work.

The purifiers, which are said to emit negative ions to ward off air pollutants, cost between P500 and P2,000 in the city.

No DOH backing

Dennis Derige, the spokesperson of Partido Manggagawa Cebu Chapter, appealed to Garcia to reconsider her decision, saying the price of a personal air purifier is two to four times the minimum wage of Cebuano laborers.

“There has been no scientific evidence that air purifiers can help prevent COVID-19. No less than the Department of Health (DOH) said so,” he added.

Jaime Paglinawan, chair of Alyansa sa mga Mamumuo sa Sugbo-Kilusang Mayo Uno, questioned why Garcia had kept pushing for the use of air purifiers even without a DOH endorsement.

“People are clamoring for financial assistance, faster distribution of free vaccines, free mass testing, and free treatment for individuals in the transport sector who have tested positive for COVID-19,” he said.

Greg Perez, chair of Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide-Cebu, called the new order a mere “band-aid solution.”

Give them for free“If Garcia wanted their mandatory use, the air purifiers should be given for free to the drivers and conductors, most of them were jobless for a long time,” Perez said.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire earlier stressed that air purifiers could not provide protection against COVID-19 and would only give their wearers a false sense of security.

Last year, in the early stages of the pandemic, the Cebu governor drew flak from medical practitioners after she endorsed the practice of tuob, or steam inhalation, supposedly as an immunity booster.

Tuob mainly involves inhaling the steam rising from hot water infused with lemon, ginger or eucalyptus for 10 to 15 minutes.

Doctors discouraged the practice, saying it could actually aggravate the condition of a person already stricken with COVID-19.

As of Sept. 10, Cebu province has 3,995 active COVID-19 cases, according to the DOH.

Since the start of the pandemic, the province has recorded 33,509 cases, with 27,648 recoveries and 1,866 deaths.

It will remain under GCQ up to Sept. 30.