CEBU CITY – The optional wearing of face masks in open areas here is only temporary, according to an Executive Order (EO) issued by Mayor Michael Rama on Monday, Sept. 5.
Rama’s EO No. 6 contained supplementary provisions to EO No. 5 entitled “Declaring the use of face mask within the territorial jurisdiction of the city of Cebu as non-obligatory but a measure of individual self-preservation and protection.”
In EO No. 6, the non-obligatory wearing of face masks in open areas will only be effective from Sept. 1 to Dec. 1 this year.
“The same period is hereby referred to as the trial and period,” read the EO.
Rama said in case Covid-19 cases surge during the trial period, the EO will be automatically lifted, making the use of face masks mandatory upon all persons.
Rama’s decision to amend his first EO came after his policy was opposed by the Department of Health (DOH).
DOH officer-in-charge Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire complained of “lack of coordination” when Rama issued an EO that made the use of face mask optional in open spaces.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos Jr. also advised Rama to defer the implementation of the EO pending consultation with the Inter-Agency Task Force.
Abalos said Rama agreed to defer the implementation, a pronouncement that was contradicted by the mayor.
Rama insisted on enforcing the EO, saying that the wearing of face mask is no longer being strictly observed by the public.
“Let us be naive. It is no longer being practiced,” Rama had said.