ILOILO City – Wearing of facemask is again mandatory in all city government offices.
Vice Mayor Jeffrey Ganzon, who serves as acting mayor while Mayor Jerry P. Treñas is in South Korea for an official travel, yesterday issued Executive Order 064-2023 “mandating the wearing of facemasks in all offices of the Iloilo City Government as part of the continued implementation of the minimum public health standards under Alert Level System 1.”
It was Treñas who recommended to Ganzon the return of the use of facemasks at city hall following the rising cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
“Our services will be affected if many of our employees are infected,” Treñas said in a text message sent to the city hall press.
As of May 22, the Iloilo City Health Office recorded a 141 percent increase in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the city, tallying 118 active cases for the past one to two weeks or from May 1 to 21.
“The city remains adherent to national IATF (Inter-agency Task Force) directives balanced with the constitutional policy on true economy of the local government unit as the authority directly responding to the ground situation in real time,” read part of the executive order.
On Nov. 3, 2022, the Sangguniang Panlungsod, through Regulation Ordinance No. 2022-286, amended Regulation Ordinance No.2020-061, as amended by Regulation Ordinance No. 2020-085, while allowing optional wearing of facemasks in some open spaces but still implementing mandatory wearing of masks in some areas.
The executive order takes effect immediately unless the said period is extended or lifted earlier per latest issuance of the IATF on the quarantine classification of Iloilo City./PN
