Voluntary wearing of face masks: One barricade down on the road to recovery

Published October 27, 2022, 12:02 AM

by Manila Bulletin

After allowing the voluntary use of face masks in outdoor spaces, now comes another development that would, in the words of our tourism officials, make the country “at par” with our ASEAN neighbors. The use of face masks will now be voluntary in indoor spaces and with only a few exceptions.

This new directive comes after a Cabinet meeting and consultation with the IATF last Oct. 25, 2022, and reflects the sentiment of the President when he said that the pandemic is “fading away” and it is already “time to go back to work, to go back to our normal lives.”

Though the business sector lauded this move, the general mood is one of cautious jubilation, an oxymoron since the world, officially, is still in a pandemic. There are still new daily Covid infections and the detection of the XBB and XBC variants that experts have said are more transmissible is a cause for concern. Nevertheless, businesses, especially those in the hospitality, travel, and events industries, are bannering “back to business” flags, ready to operate in full capacity and raring to welcome holiday revelers. 

“The direction of the Marcos administration is to lift the remainder of travel restrictions into the Philippines, and that includes easing of our mask mandates to allow our country to be at par with our ASEAN neighbors, as they have long liberalized the mask mandates,” said Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco. She noted, however, that face masks are still required when riding public or medical transportation, or when entering medical facilities. Meanwhile, those who are unvaccinated, with comorbidities, and senior citizens are strongly advised to wear face masks.

With the further easing of mask mandates comes the lifting of some stringent travel requirements, which Frasco said would further encourage the arrival of tourists. For one, travelers would no longer need an RT-PCR test as a pre-departure requirement. Unvaccinated individuals could also now enter the country provided that they present an antigen test taken 24 hours before departure, or an option to take an antigen test upon arrival.

Answering forms will become easier, too. The One Health Pass is now replaced with an eArrival card. Filling out the eArrival card will not be mandatory as a prerequisite to boarding and can be filled at one’s convenience prior to departure or upon arrival.

“(We) want 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,” Frasco added. 

Members of the Senate and the House also supported this move from Malacañang, with Senator Grace Poe saying that “loosening the mask mandate and regulations on the entry of tourists will help generate economic activities, foremost among them is providing jobs to our people.”  But she said that we “must build on the gains of the past in the fight against Covid-19 until we cross the finish line in this health crisis.”

Indeed, if this pandemic is a marathon filled with obstacles and barricades, then relaxing the mask mandate is a sign that we have hurdled a challenging phase of the health crisis. At the concluding leg of this marathon, may our nation never lose sight of our goal of full economic and social recovery. Anything less than that, which could reset all our efforts, would be unacceptable