By Katrina Gracia Consebido
Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said on Monday, June 20, that wearing of face masks is still mandatory in the province, particularly “when inside closed and air-conditioned areas and for those who are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19.”
According to Garcia, the recently issued Executive Order No. 16 “does not totally scrap” the use of face masks, as well as the Cebu Provincial Ordinance 2022-03.
During her public address, Garcia reiterated that the ordinance “stands” in their province.
“So here in the province of Cebu, the ordinance that rationalizes the use of face masks, stands,” she said.
She added that it is up to all Cebuanos if they will wear or not when they are in well-ventilated areas and in open spaces.
The governor still “highly encouraged” the people of Cebu to wear face masks in crowded areas.
Moreover, Garcia said that her constituents had “learned enough” over the several years of being under a pandemic situation, and that it is their body to choose since most of the Cebuanos already got vaccinated and boosted.
“It’s your choice. It’s your body, it’s your choice. We’ve learned enough over these two and a half years about this disease… We subjected ourselves to vaccination, some to booster shots,” she said.
The ordinance became controversial when Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año called out the attention of Garcia and gave her an ultimatum to take back her executive order to prevent any COVID-19 surge in the province. – ag
