Palace: Wearing of Face Masks Indoors to Become Voluntary

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is set to issue an executive order that will make wearing of face masks indoors voluntary, Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco said during a press briefing on Tuesday, Oct. 25.

“As a result of the Cabinet meeting this morning, it was agreed that the President would be issuing an executive order for the IATF recommendation to make indoor mask wearing also voluntary all over the Philippines,” Frasco said.

She added that the announcement comes “with few exceptions” as wearing of masks is still required in public transportation and medical facilities. People who are also unvaccinated against COVID-19, with co-morbidities, and senior citizens are still highly encouraged to wear a mask.

The easing of face mask mandates is aligned with the administration’s goal to lift the remaining COVID-19-related travel restrictions, allowing the country to “be at par with our ASEAN neighbors who have long liberalized their mask mandates.” This includes easing the required COVID-19 tests as well.

“It was also discussed that the remainder of stringent protocols, such as the requirement of pre-departure testing into the Philippines in the form of RT-PCR would also be removed,” Frasco said.

“As far as unvaccinated foreigners are concerned, they would be allowed entry into the Philippines with only the requirement of presenting an antigen test 24 hours taken before the departure or an option of taking an antigen test upon arrival into the Philippines.”