Local government units (LGUs) must adhere to the national government’s coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic guidelines in enforcing the face shield use in their respective areas, League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) president and Marinduque Governor Presbitero Velasco Jr. said on Wednesday, Nov. 10.
In a GMA News report, Velasco stressed that it is the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) is the authority when it comes to prescribing health protocols.
“Kailangan po tayong sumunod dyan (IATF rules). Ang IATF ang may power na mag-prescribe ng mga ganyang protocol (We need to follow that. The IATF has the power to prescribe those protocols),’’ Velasco explained.
In the midst of the pandemic, Velasco pointed to the IATF member Department of Health (DOH) to take the task of providing solutions to the country’s COVID-19 woes.
Manila mayor and presidential bet Isko Moreno issued Executive Order No. 42 on Nov. 8 that states that the use of face shields amid the COVID-19 pandemic has been made non-mandatory in the city except in hospitals, medical clinics and other medical facilities.
On the other hand, Davao City mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio issued Executive Order No. 51-A on Nov. 2 stating that wearing of face shields in the city will be voluntary under certain conditions or 3Cs which refers to closed places, crowded locations and areas where there are close contacts.
The LPP chief also noted that the group is open to calls for issuing ordinances with regards to the mandatory inoculation against COVID-19.
He lamented that the Local Government Code specifically includes a general welfare clause that empowers the local government units (LGUs) to pass ordinances for the welfare of their constituents.
Earlier, DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III proposed that the LGUs enact ordinances and exercise their powers while the country has no national law yet for the mandatory COVID-19 inoculation.
But Velasco said that the right to health, religious beliefs and right to the informed consent of constituents must be taken into consideration by the LGUs before pushing for the measure.
Even if penalties can be enclosed in the mandatory vaccination ordinance, Velasco asked the LGUs to be cautious in the passage of the measure as it affects the people’s lives and can be questioned in court.
In ramping up the national vaccination program, Velasco said that the LGUs may provide cash incentives like bonuses to the vaccinated employees with the use of their own resources. (Chito A. Chavez)