Frasco: Marcos to announce optional wearing of masks indoors

Wearing of masks in indoor areas will no longer be mandatory as President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. is set to issue an executive order lifting the mask mandate, Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco announced on Tuesday.

"As a result of the Cabinet meeting this morning, it was agreed that the President would be issuing an executive order for the Inter-Agency Task Force recommendation to make indoor mask-wearing also voluntary all over the Philippines," Frasco said in a Palace press briefing.

Wearing masks, however, will remain mandatory for individuals taking public transportation and medical transportation and when they are inside medical facilities like hospitals.

"Mask-wearing would also be highly encouraged for unvaccinated individuals, the persons with comorbidities as well as senior citizens," Frasco said, without disclosing when the President can sign the executive order.

The Tourism chief said the decision was made to allow the Philippines to be at par with its ASEAN neighbors which have long eased their mask-wearing policies.

She added that issues concerning mask mandates as well as new Covid-19 variants were extensively tackled during the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases meeting last week with some Cabinet secretaries.

"It was also discussed that the remainder of stringent protocols such as the requirement of pre-departure testing into the Philippines in the form of RT-PCR would also be removed," she disclosed.

The government requires unvaccinated foreigners to present an antigen Covid-19 test taken 24 hours before their departure or upon arrival into the Philippines.

Meanwhile, the One Health Pass requirement for all individuals entering the Philippines will be replaced by the "E-arrival platform."

"In addition to these, it was also agreed that the One Health pass would be removed as already publicly announced and replaced with an E-Arrival platform that introduces great convenience to our travelers and tourists in the sense that the interface is more user-friendly," Frasco said.

"Twenty questions that used to be in placed have now been reduced to 10 — specifically those that are tourism-related," she added.

Frasco stressed that the Philippine government decided to lift the remaining measure aimed at controlling the spread of Covid-19 to send a message to the international community that the country is "open and ready" for tourists.

"The overarching direction of the Marcos administration is to allow our country to convey an openness and readiness to the world to receive tourists and investments so that we would give our fellow Filipinos an opportunity to regain all the livelihood and losses that were incurred during the pandemic," she said.

The Marcos administration is hopeful, she said, that the easing of pandemic-related restrictions would benefit the Filipinos.

"We are optimistic that all of these restrictions being lifted by the Marcos administration, that this can only redound to the benefit of the lives of millions of Filipinos that serve to benefit as well from the invigoration of the tourism industry," she said.

In September, Marcos signed Executive Order 3, allowing the voluntary wearing of masks in outdoor settings, particularly in open spaces and non-crowded areas with good ventilation.

Public reminded about health protocols

The Department of Health on Tuesday reminded the public of the additional protection they could get from adhering to minimum public health protocols against Covid-19 following the government's decision to make the wearing of masks in indoor areas voluntary.

In a statement, the Health department said that it will await the official guidance that will be issued by the Malacañang.

"While the DoH has illustrated all potential scenarios to the IATF during discussions concerning masking mandates, the IATF is a collegial body that takes into consideration the concerns of all sectors," the agency said.

"In view of this, the DoH reminds the public that the more layers of protection we employ, the more protected we are against Covid-19. These include vaccination, masking, distancing, ventilation, and sanitation, as well as taking care of one's health," it added.

The Health department urged the public to assess the risks thoroughly before removing masks in indoor settings.

"Moreover, the decision to ease masking empowers each and every one of us by giving us the choice to decide based on our personal context and risk appetite," the agency said.

"With this freedom to choose, it is therefore important for us to assess our individual risk thoroughly before deciding if it is safe and wise to remove our masks, especially now that the Undas and Christmas seasons are approaching and we expect increased Covid-19 transmission brought about by greater mobility," it added.

In September, Marcos issued Executive Order 3 allowing the voluntary wearing of masks in outdoor settings, particularly in open spaces and non-crowded outdoor areas with good ventilation.