EDITORIAL - If only Año had been going around Cebu

It’s hard to comprehend the real motive of Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año in his criticism of Cebu Governor Gwendolyn over her executive order making optional the use of facemasks in open and well-ventilated areas across the province.

Last Wednesday, Año said Garcia may face charges over her issuance of the EO, which he claimed was a clear violation of the national policies on health protocols against COVID-19, including the one issued by President Rodrigo Duterte at the start of the pandemic.

“Kapag binangga nila yung (EO) 151, violation na talaga. Ang tawag natin diyan ay violation ng Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices,” the DILG chief said, adding Garcia’s order is only causing undue confusion to the public.

Being a national official, Año is expected to help defend and disseminate national policies --such as those on the coronavirus pandemic-- to see to it that they are geared towards a proper and harmonious implementation nationwide.

However, the problem with national officials like Año is that they only tend to think of the overall situation as far as the national condition of policy implementation is concerned, but fail to consider how those national guidelines conform to the local setting.

Governor Garcia, being a local chief executive, knows the real and actual situation on the ground across the province better than those national officials who are just sitting pretty inside their air-conditioned offices in the capital.

The best way for Año to deal with Garcia’s executive order is to pick up his phone and talk to the governor about the real COVID-19 situation in the province and see what he can do to help her EO conform to the national policies.

Threatening Garcia with legal remedies just won’t work. It will instead aggravate the situation considering the unprecedented public support behind the governor’s executive order, something the DILG chief failed to comprehend.

If only Año had been going around Cebu these days, he would have witnessed people returning to their normal lives on account of a manageable COVID-19 situation, which is the primary reason for Garcia’s facemask order.