Manila Mayor Isko Moreno's controversial statement seeking to exclude face shield in the minimum public health safety protocol is just a suggestion and not a demand from the government, an official of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) official clarified Thursday, June 3.
In a news briefing, DILG Undersecretary and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said he had already having spoken to Moreno to clarify the issue.
He noted that Moreno’s suggestion is being studied by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) since it came from the mayor of the “principal city, capital city of the Philippines with 2.2 million residents.’’
On the part of the DILG, Malaya disclosed that now is not the time yet for the removal of the face shield requirement as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic remains a threat.
He added that the Philippines has yet to achieve herd immunity or public protection which can only be reached once the number of fully-vaccinated persons hit the 15 million mark.
"I think the face shield (requirement) when (it) was implemented last year ay para po may karagdagang level ng protection ang ating mga kababayan (to have our countrymen an added level of protection)," Malaya said.
In the event the face shield requirement is scrapped, Malaya emphasized the need for it to be replaced by another level of protection which is vaccination.
“Again we will be guided by science in all of our decisions. I am sure that the IATF and the DOH (Department of Health) will study this very carefully," he added.
With regard to the COVID-19 vaccine for the A4 categories, Malaya cited the preparation of the local government units (LGUs).
Malaya said that 1.1 million COVID-19 doses were injected in one week with Manila leading having inoculated 22,000 people in a single day followed by quezon City with 19,000 injected individuals.
So nakahanda na po ang mga LGUs sa nakaambang nating A4 na vaccination ng ating mga economic frontliners. (So the LGUs are prepared with the impending A4 vaccination of our economic frontliners),’’ Malaya said.
The DILG official disclosed that the LGUs have added additional vaccination centers and mobilized more vaccinators since the target is to reach four to five million inoculations this month alone.