Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes: “We cannot afford to gamble or take chances and per our health board, we must be compliant in our ordinance.”
Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes confirmed that the city is no longer interested in relaxing its face mask policy.
Mayor Cortes said in an interview with reporters that they will keep the status quo after Cebu City’s Executive Order drew flak from national officials.
The mayor, through his executive secretary Atty. Edu Ibanez, issued a statement last August 31 saying that he’s open to follow Cebu City’s move to make the use of face mask non-obligatory. However, the mayor said that he has changed his mind.
“We cannot afford to gamble or take chances and per our health board, we must be compliant in our ordinance,” Cortes said.
READ ALSO: Cebu City Sets “Trial Period” Of Voluntary Face Mask Policy Until Yearend
The mayor is also open if his council lifts, repeals, or amends the existing face mask ordinance that they have in the city.
Based on a report, Mandaue City Ordinance No. 15 – 2020 – 1531 stated that the non-wearing of face masks in the city, including its improper wearing, is punishable with a PHP 5,000 penalty.
Both the Philippine National Police (PNP) and some personnel of the local government unit (LGU) are still tasked to implement the said ordinance.
Mayor Cortes’s statement came after the Cebu City government has set the “trial period” of its voluntary face mask policy until December 31, 2022 and will be automatically lifted should there be a surge in COVID-19 infections in the city.
Department of Health (DOH), meanwhile, said that the coronavirus infections in Central Visayas have decreased as the department logged 488 new COVID-19 cases over the region from August 28 to September 3 this year. Only 4 out of the new cases were critical.
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