DEPARTMENT of Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año said Tuesday, June 14, 2022 that the ordinance passed by the Cebu Provincial Council, which makes the wearing of face masks optional in open and well-ventilated areas in the province, has “no legal basis and considered defective.”Related story: Optional wearing of masks in open areas now law in Cebu Año said he is consulting his legal team for the course of legal action against Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia and her order lifting the mandatory wearing of face masks in the province.“The EO (Executive Order) 151 of PRRD (President Rodrigo Roa Duterte) and IATF (Inter Agency Task Force) Guidelines shall prevail over the EO of [Governor] Garcia and the ordinance passed by the Cebu Provincial Council,” he said in a Viber message to SunStar on late Tuesday evening, June 14, 2022.“The Ordinance has no legal basis and considered defective because it is not only consistent but also contradicts the national policies embodied in EO 151, EO 168 and IATF Guidelines,” he added.The EO 151 which approves the nationwide implementation of the Alert Level System for Covid-19 response as recommended by the IATF was signed by Duterte on November 11, 2021.The IATF resolution highlighted the maintenance of Minimum Public Health Standards (MPHS), consistent with the Department of Health Administrative order No. 2021-0043 which includes the mandatory wearing of face masks, especially in public areas in places under Alert Levels one to five.The EO 168 on the other hand was signed by late President Benigno Aquino III in 2014 institutionalize the creation of an IATF for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease (EID) in anticipation to any epidemics and pandemic in the country.Among the functions of the IATF based on EO 168 is to adopt measures to strengthen the Emerging and Re-Emerging Infectious Diseases Program of the DOH or its equivalent in other local health units and to formulate, develop, implement, and oversee the EID Preparedness Manual for the prevention and control of EID.On Tuesday, the Cebu Provincial Board has passed an ordinance adopting Garcia’s EO 16 which makes the wearing of face masks in the province no longer mandatory, in contrary to the protocols set by the IATF to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).Garcia stood her ground despite criticisms from concerned government officials as well as the risk of getting reprimanded by the DILG.Following the issuance of Garcia’s EO 16 on Thursday, June 8, Año ordered police personnel to continue to apprehend and arrest, if necessary, those not wearing face masks in public spaces in the province.The DOH earlier said it is not yet time for the country to lift the mandatory wearing of face masks especially that several cases of the highly transmissible Omicron subvariant have been detected in the country which may result to the resurgence of Covid-19 cases. (SunStar Philippines)