ILOILO City – More than three weeks after President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. ordered the mandatory wearing of facemask outdoors, the city council here is yet to decide whether to amend or suspend the city’s facemask ordinance to conform to the President’s directive.
During its recent regular session, the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) took note of the three recommendations of the Committee on Health. These were the following:
* amending Regulation Ordinance No. 2020-061 or the “Mandatory Wearing of Face Mask”
* passing a new ordinance suspending the mother ordinance
* for Mayor Jerry Treñas to issue an executive order (EO) suspending the mother ordinance
The suspension of the facemask ordinance through a new ordinance was earlier proposed by its author, Councilor Ely Estante.
But some councilors questioned the proposed total suspension of the facemask ordinance, noting that in indoor settings, the wearing of facemask is still mandatory.
It was then that the body referred the proposed ordinance to the Committee on Health for study, report and recommendation.
The city council is expected to tackle this again in this week’s regular session.
On Sept. 7, the Inter-Agency Task Force recommended the voluntary use of facemask outdoors, which was then approved by the President.
Marcos favored the recommendation since the country is only six percent away from the wall of immunity against coronavirus disease, wherein at least 80 percent of the eligible population has received their first booster shot./PN
