BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Benjamin Magalong has requested the city council to amend the city ordinance on the use of face masks in anticipation of the President’s approval of the new rule limiting face mask’s mandatory use at indoor settings.
In his Sept. 8 letter to the city council coursed through Vice Mayor Faustino Olowan, Magalong said there is a need to prepare for the new face mask use rule in view of the developments in the national front.
He said: “The IATF-EID (Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases) has already forwarded a policy recommendation to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on liberalizing the use of face masks, particularly making it an option to wear face masks in outdoor, low-risk settings for persons who are not immunocompromised.”
The Mayor said the city is prepared for such developments as it had attained 126.53 percent full vaccination rate.
He added the city has remained on a low risk level, the reason why it has allowed more economic, wellness and fitness activities to open and resume face-to-face activities in schools as well.
The city also posted 121.10 percent accomplishment in the senior citizens group, 26.20 percent of whom had received their second booster shots.
“Our efforts to ramp up vaccination for primary and booster doses have not wavered and we are fully committed in our ongoing efforts to ramp up COVID-19 vaccination in the city,” said Magalong.
“In addition, our health standards shall continue to be implemented especially in high risk settings. In any case, our Prevent-Detect-Isolate-Treat-Reintegrate mechanisms are always ready should circumstances so require,” Magalong said.
During the height of the pandemic, Magalong signed the City Ordinance No.45 series of 2020 (“The Face Mask Ordinance of 2020 in the City of Baguio”) which mandates the wearing of face mask by all persons within Baguio City until the threat of COVID-19 is eliminated.
The new city ordinance aims to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 and to ensure the health and safety of the residents, medical personnel, front liners, and all persons in the city of Baguio.