Commuters wear face masks and face shields as they wait for a ride along Escario Street in Cebu City in this photo taken on December 30, 2020. CDN Digital photo | Brian J. Ochoa
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The penalties on failing to wear masks in public places will remain in Cebu City.
This was the statement of Mayor Edgardo Labella on April 21, 2021, following the removal of monetary penalties for mask violators in Cebu Province.
Labella said that the penalties for failing to wear masks during a public health emergency are stipulated in a city ordinance adapting the Bayanihan Heal as One Act, making it impossible to unilaterally revoke the penalties.
“Duna may ordinansa niana. Para hunungon kana, there has to be an amendment to the ordinance. Para kanako, you cannot just unilaterally suspend the implementation of the ordinance,” said the mayor.
He said a councilor may be requested to make amendments to the ordinance to remove the penalties or make a resolution suspending the implementation of the ordinance.
Still, Labella is not inclined to remove the penalties because this could deter the public from being lax in their compliance to the basic health protocols especially the wearing of masks.
He emphasized that violators in the city have the option to serve in a community service for five hours if they can’t afford the P500 penalty for not wearing masks.
The threat of penalty or community service should be enough to remind the public of their responsibility to adhere to the health protocols whenever they go out outside, said Labella.
“Kung wala penalties, duna pa bay makapugong nila. So ipadayon gyod gihapon nato ang penalties,” said Labella.
The mayor emphasized that with Cebu City as an economic center in the region, many people from different places come and go here.
The masks should provide adequate protection to keep the number of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases low.
The number of cases has been declining for weeks now and Labella said the city does not want those numbers to rise again. /rcg