IT IS still unsure if Davao City will be able to secure a share from the five million face masks to be imported overseas, a Trade department official in the city said.
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in Davao City Director Rachel Remitio said there is no more supply of face masks in the city based on their monitoring last week, although the demand of the face mask has recently mellowed down.
“Karon murag na hilom kay wala na man talagang supply sa Davao (It seems that people are not aggressively looking for masks anymore and we also do not have a supply here in Davao),” she said.
During the first week of February 2020, DTI has ordered Philippine International Trading Corp. (PITC), its trading arm to scour for potential foreign suppliers of masks to augment local supply, especially for the health workers.
MedTecs, a Bataan-based manufacturer of surgical masks, has earlier committed to produce about two million pieces per month.
Remitio said the face masks from abroad have arrived in Manila Port this week but they are still awaiting if a share will be given to the city.
“Hindi ko lang alam kung nabiyayaan ang Davao pero murag nihilom na man ang mga tao (I do not know yet if there are face masks allocated for Davao but the demand is no longer that high),” she said.
She added the agency has not apprehended establishments who overpriced face masks based on the price set by the Department of Health (DOH).
As of last week, the price of disposable face masks is at P1.10 to P8 per piece. N95 masks cost between P45 to P105.
Other medical supplies and emergency medicines in which prices set by the DOH are the ethyl alcohol (P25.50 to P74.25), sterile gloves (P18 to P450), nebulizer (P1,495 to P3,980), neb kits for adult (P87 to P120), neb kit for pedia (P63 to P142), oxygen cannula for adult (P24 to P60), oxygen cannula for pedia (P18.50 to P53.00), and oxygen cannula for neonatal (P24 to P50).
DOH is currently implementing a price freeze. Remitio explained the price freeze is usually implemented for 90 days unless lifted prior to expiration.