Manila Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso stood pat on his decision to impose a "no face shield" policy in the capital city and urged the national government "to go to court" if it wants declaratory relief and stop the city from imposing its policy.
“If they are not happy, they can go to court and ask for declaratory relief. But our decision will stay,” Domagoso said in an interview with ANC's Headstart on Tuesday, Nov. 9.
“Maliwanag naman yung kapakanan ng tao. Sa aming local governments, yung hinaing lang naman ng tao ang aming dinidinig (It's very clear that it is for the welfare of the people. The local governments are only listening to the voice of the people). That’s the purpose of governance – tao una (People first)," he added.
Presidential spokespman Harry Roque had earlier said that the city government's policy against face shields is "null and void" and "in violation of an existing executive policy decreed by the President himself, in the exercise of police powers."
Domagoso signed on Monday, Nov. 8, the executive order on the lifting of the face shield use policy in the city.
Under Executive Order No. 42, the wearing of face shields is no longer required in the city except in hospital settings, medical clinics, and other medical facilities.
Domagoso said that while he respects the opinion of Roque who is a lawyer, the President has no control over the local executives under the Local Government Code.
"Control and supervision are two different matters. Control is the power to reverse, supervise is the power to oversee if laws are correct and not contradictory to existing laws,” he said.
“And I think the President, who is a lawyer and a former City Mayor, will agree with me. He has no control over the mayors. He has the power of supervision,” Domagoso added.
He also debunked accusations that he is not following the chain of command in the executive branch as the city of Manila was the first city to not require the use of face shields.
“When we speak of chain of command, we speak of military and we are not uniformed personnel. We are civilian authority mandated by the people within our territorial jurisdiction,” he said.
He added that he has been continuously asking the Department of Health (DOH) to study "the effects and benefits" of face shields for months now. However, there was still no result given to him by the DOH.
“They have not done their assignment. It's been one year and eight months. Have we not learned how to deal with COVID-19? We are the only country in the world using face shields," he said.
"What they want us to do is something that is not science-based," Domagoso added.
He added that buying face shields was an additional burden to the people. Face shields also cause discomfort to the elderly and asthmatic people.
"What is there with faced shields? Why insist on something, making it mandatory without science? It’s unfair to the people,” he said.
Domagoso said the country should focus on vaccinating the people, promote the wearing of face masks, and purchase science-based medicines that can help patients with critical and severe COVID-19.