Rizal 2nd District Representative Fidel Nograles on Monday, Nov. 8 lauded the decision of Metro Manila mayors to make optional the wearing of face shields.

Nograles said other local executives should be encouraged in making a simiilar decision. He said the decision is a move in the right direction and this should convince the country’s Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on COVID-19 pandemic to scrap the policy in certain indoor spaces.

Mayors in the National Capital Region have reached a consensus to free their constituents from the burden of buying and wearing face shields.

They reportedly agreed that the mandatory wearing of face shields be limited inside hospitals, health centers and public transportation.

“We are now allowing people to play contact sports and soon, people can already watch movies in cinemas without face shields. We have also heard time and again that face shield use does not guarantee additional protection against COVID-19 and it is no secret that our people are already burdened by high unemployment rate and rising prices. As such, it is just right to ditch the policy in its entirety," said Nograles.

The Rizal lawmaker explained that mandatory use of face shields will only add to the country's growing problem on plastic pollution.

“As face shields are meant to be used for only a limited time, imagine the thousands if not millions of discarded plastic sheets and frames that will occupy landfills and oceans,” the administration lawmaker said.

Earlier in September, Nograles supported the call of House Speaker Velasco to relax the policy on requiring face shields. Velasco, in a letter dated September 20, 2021 addressed to the President and copy furnished Health Secretary Francisco Duque, said mandatory face shield use only adds financial burden to Filipinos who are already bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We, in the House, will continue to work with the executive in ensuring we are able to recover from the pandemic while also easing the burden on our people such as the face shield requirement,” said Nograles.

He added: “We can feel, right now, that we are doing things correctly as we prepare to go back to the new normal.”