MANILA — Anti-COVID masks and physical distancing are no longer mandatory in public utility vehicles, the Department of Transportation said on Monday.

The pronouncement came after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ended the country's public health emergency declaration due to the pandemic.

"Sa Department of Transportation, pinapaalis na rin namin yung mga mask pagdating sa loob ng mga public utility vehicle, sa mga eroplano, train, sa buses, sa jeep. Wala na rin po yung tinatawag nating social distancing," Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista told TeleRadyo Serbisyo.

"Sa mga trains po, ang isa sa mga directives dati ay bawal magsalita, bawal gumamit ng telepono. Pero ngayon po ay gagawin na nating normal operations. Kung ano po yung mga ating ginagawa pre-pandemic ay ibabalik na po natin ‘yan… Back to normal," he added.

(We are removing the mask requirement for public utility vehicles, airplanes, trains, buses, jeeps. There will be no more social distancing. In trains, we previously banned talking and using one's phone. But we will return to normal operations. We will bring back what we were doing before the pandemic.)

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In May, the World Health Organization said the COVID-19 pandemic no longer constituted a global health emergency, the group's highest level of alert.

But WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned the decision did not mean the danger was over, cautioning that the emergency status could be reinstated if the situation changes.

The pandemic has wreaked global devastation and officially killed nearly 7 million people, with the true figure believed to be closer to 20 million.

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— With a report from Agence France-Presse

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