By Arabella Balderama and Aura Sison

Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco reported on Tuesday, October 25, that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. agreed to release an executive order declaring the voluntary wearing of face masks indoors. 

The decision was made more than a month after Marcos Jr. issued a decree making it optional to wear face masks outdoors, and a week after the Department of Health (DOH) detected 81 cases of the Omicron XBB Subvariant in two regions and 193 cases of the XBC variant in 11 regions. 

“As a result of the Cabinet meeting this morning, it was agreed that the President would be issuing an executive order for the IATF (Inter-agency Task Force) recommendation to make indoor mask wearing also voluntary all over the Philippines with the few exceptions,” Frasco stated in a Malacañang Palace briefing.

Frasco added that the current administration intends to ease the remaining travel restrictions in the country, including mask mandates, to bring the country at par with ASEAN neighbors that have “liberalized” mask mandates.

However, the Tourism chief stressed that mask-wearing will still be mandatory in public and medical transportation and medical facilities.

Further, unvaccinated individuals, people with comorbidities, and senior citizens are highly encouraged to wear face masks.

DOH then advised people to consider their own risks before deciding whether to remove their masks, especially during the holiday season, and said it will wait for official guidelines from Malacañang regarding the matter.

Thumbnail from Rappler