barriers as the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases has allowed
establishments to accommodate dine-in customers up to 30% of their operational capacity. BING
GONZALES
THE LOCAL government is leaving it up to businesses and establishments whether or not to enforce their own face shield requirement before allowing a person inside.
EO 51-B, signed by Acting Mayor Sebastian Duterte on Nov. 4, 2021, added a new section to Mayor Sara Duterte’s November 2, 2021 EO 51-A version. The EO version of Mayor Duterte states that using face shields in the 3C settings – crowded places, close contact, and confined and enclosed spaces is no longer mandatory effective November 2, 2021. It is voluntary instead.
Section 3 of the updated version states, “Offices, hospitals, and all other establishments may require the mandatory use of face shields within their properties. In these cases, employees, clients, and guests must follow the company rule.”
“Face shields shall be for voluntary use in the 3Cs settings: crowded places, close-contact settings, and confined and enclosed spaces. For all other places, the use of the face shield shall not be required,” Mayor Duterte said in EO 51-A.
The EO defined crowded places as areas where there is a mass gathering of individuals, which include but are not limited to swab sites, vaccination sites, evacuation centers, assistance distribution, and Comelec voters’ registration.
It also defined close contact settings as contact between individuals within six feet of each other for a total of 15 minutes or more while confined and enclosed spaces referred to as indoor structures with roofs and walls and without open windows.
Davao COVID-19 Task Force Spokesperson Dr. Michelle Schlosser, in a previous radio interview via 87.5 Davao City Disaster Radio, said that although the use of face shield is now voluntary, Davaoeños may continue using it for added protection.
Dr. Schlosser also said that establishments have the prerogative to keep the mandatory face shield requirement within their properties.
EO 51-A repealed or modified Executive Order No. 65-A series of 2020, known as “An Order Consolidating all the Issuances on the Use of Face Shields and all other orders or parts thereof which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Executive Order are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.”
On Sept. 3, 2020, the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) Resolution No. 68, s. 2020 mandated the use of a face shield with a face mask in the following places: supermarkets, public markets, malls, and venues where government-initiated meetings and critical government services are being conducted or provided.
Through EO 65-A series of 2020, the City Government of Davao also required its employees and clients/visitors to wear a face shield and face mask inside its buildings and rooms.
The non-compliance with the mandatory use of face shield often ranks among the top three COVID-19 protocol violations in Davao City.
President Rodrigo Duterte earlier announced that face shields are no longer required to be worn outdoors. This, after he announced on Sept. 22, 2021, a policy to limit the use of face shields to the 3Cs as recommended by the Technical Advisory Group.
