The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) gave the Cebu Provincial Government until this weekend to correct its executive order which allows local residents the option not to wear face masks in public places.
In a press briefing, DILG Sec. Eduardo Año also disclosed that he is contemplating on filing charges against Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia after she issued Executive Order No. 16, which he said, is not aligned with the health protocols set by the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATDF-MEID).
“Lahat ng options ay gagawin natin dito. Ito naman ay meron ring instructions ng Office of the President na we should seek all remedies at kung wala, we could also pursue legal actions (We will exhaust all options here. This has the instruction of the Office of the President that we should seek all possible remedies and if there are none, we can pursue legal actions),’’ Año said.
“Maybe over the weekend, we will give them the chance to rectify. After the weekend, we will do whatever is necessary. I’m consulting with my legal team and hindi pa namin ia-announce ngayon (we will not announce it yet). We’ll just do what is legal and what is commensurate to that particular action of the Cebu provincial government,” he added.
Año reiterated that the provincial government has violated the Executive Order No. 151, series of 2021 regarding the Nationwide Implementation of the Alert Level System for COVID-19 Response and the guidelines enforced under it.
Following Garcia's issuance of EO 16, the Cebu provincial board passed the ordinance on third and final reading in a special session on Tuesday.
Despite the DILG’s prodding to change her stand, Garcia remained adamant insisting that she does not recognize the resolution of the Inter-Agency Task Force of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) on the mandatory wearing of face masks as the law, claiming that the IATF guidelines “doesn’t carry the force of law.
“It is neither enacted by Congress, nor (does it have the force of an) order signed by the President,’’ Garcia asserted.
However, Año rejected Garcia’s persistence saying that the national government does not recognize the EO issued by Garcia.
“You’re causing (un) due injury to the government and to the people kasi nagkakaron ng confusion. In the process baka may maaksidente, baka may madisgrasya diyan (because people might be confused and run into trouble) and you’re casting doubt on the image of the national government. That is the biggest injury,” Año said.
Año reiterated that the wearing of face masks in Cebu is still mandatory amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and that violators risk police arrest.
In the same briefing, Año emphasized for him the DILG’s biggest accomplishment is “when we were able to synchronize and harmonize all the efforts of the local government, local chief executives, the interior sector and the community in our fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.’’
“When we started the fight against the Covid pandemic salusalungat yung mga naging interpretation ng mga LGUs dahil first time natin maglockdown. First time magkaroon ng mga regulations na ginawa ng IATF (the LGUs have their own interpretation since it was the first time we had the lockdown. That was the first time that the IATF made the regulations),’’ he added.
The DILG chief stressed that the initial phase in the government’s fight against Covid-19 was a ‘big challenge’ until the LGUs finally recognized the efforts of the department in protecting the public against the virus.
He also considered the government’s unwavering fight against illegal drugs and the CPP-NPA as among the major achievements of the government through Executive Order No. 70 and the NTF-ELCAC where the LGUs through the DILG spearheaded the fight against terrorist groups.
“They are the leaders, the commanders or the chief or the heads of the task forces at the local level from provincial, municipal even up to the barangays and we are able to deliver the services needed in the barangays. So yun yung talagang tinatawag natin na whole of nation approach (So that is what we refer to as the whole of nation approach),’’ he noted.
Año stressed that the DILG is now considered a part of the ‘big mechanism that delivers the mandate of the national government.’’ (Chito A. Chavez)