Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama issued an executive order lifting the mandatory wearing of face masks while outdoors or at open spaces.
Rama’s Executive Order (EO) No. 5, states that the use and wearing of face masks in Cebu City has been declared “non-obligatory.” Usage of face masks will be a measure of “self preservation and protection under the principle of shared responsibility and mutual respect.”
EO5 also says that it is “high time” to implement the policy, since the “lethal effect of the pandemic is already wearing off and that vaccination has been proven to be an effective means in containing the spread and the impact” of Covid-19.
“Most people remain uninformed as to the protection offered by the kind of face mask and the proper way of wearing the same, so long as they have complied with the mandatory wearing of face mask and even just for a show while it cost money and offers inconvenience,” the EO reads.
“On the other side, (sic) the long and mandatory wearing of face mask had affected the person as (sic) a biopsychosocial and spiritual being,” it continued.
However, the order still requires the wearing of face masks while in hospitals, clinics, and other medical or diagnostic facilities, subject to the policy of the organization or discretion of the administrator. — Ronald Espartinez