Wearing face masks inside commercial establishments here will depend on the management’s prerogative, according to the Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (Oro Chamber).

During a radio interview on Saturday, Oro Chamber president Raymundo Talimio Jr. said the business community has yet to disseminate in full Executive Order (EO) No. 7 signed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on October 28 regarding the optional wearing of masks.

“Even though there is already a mandate, big establishments like malls have rights to impose (internal) rules within their premises (since it’s a private property),” Talimio said.

Under EO 7, wearing of face masks is optional but mandated in health care facilities, medical transport vehicles, and all forms of public transportation.

The same EO also encourages face masks for the elderly, those with comorbidities or immunocompromised, those who are pregnant, symptomatic, and if unvaccinated.

EO 7 is a way to boost activities and efforts toward full economic recovery, something that Jaime Rafael Paguio, Oro Chamber’s immediate past president, fully agrees with.

“Let us extend our help to those who lost their businesses, and help them bring back (to their feet), help them recover,” he stated in the group’s 3rd Quarterly Report in September.

Mayor Rolando Uy previously urged investors to also put their money in agriculture.

“I believe sustained investments in our farmers can make agriculture an essential driver of our economic recovery,” he said in a previous interview. (PNA)