Okay to take off masks outdoors – Bongbong Marcos EO

The government on Monday announces the easing of face mask use in outdoor and well-ventilated
spaces in the country. On Kamuning Road, Quezon City, most people seen crossing the street keep their
masks on as Filipinos start to learn to live with COVID-19. —GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE. FOR STORY: Okay
to take off masks outdoors – Bongbong Marcos EO

STILL COVERED | The government on Monday announces the easing of face mask use in outdoor and
well-ventilated spaces in the country. On Kamuning Road, Quezon City, most people seen crossing the
street keep their masks on as Filipinos start to learn to live with COVID-19. (Photo by GRIG C.
MONTEGRANDE / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — Wearing a face mask is now optional outdoors and in areas that are well-
ventilated and not crowded.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday issued Executive Order No. 3 relaxing the mask mandate as
recommended last week by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious
Diseases (IATF), despite opposition from several medical groups and health experts due to the poor
booster vaccination coverage in the country and the continuing community transmission of COVID-19.

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The presidential directive, however, requires masking in indoor private or public establishments,
crowded and poorly ventilated settings, and in all public transportation, adding that “not fully vaccinated
individuals, senior citizens and immunocompromised are highly encouraged to wear their masks and
physical distancing will be observed at all times.”

The order took effect immediately upon its publication in the Official Gazette also on Monday.

In the EO, the president noted that neighboring countries in Southeast Asia and various governments
across the world have liberalized their mask mandates “without significant increase in the number of
COVID-19 cases.”

He said that as of Sept. 6, a total of 72 million Filipinos, or 93 percent of the target population, had been
fully vaccinated, while 18 million individuals, or 23 percent of the target, already had their booster
doses.