Consumer group asks DTI to buy masks in bulk to control prices

FILE: People queue up in front of medical supply stores on Rizal Avenue corner Remigio Street in Sta. Cruz, Manila on Friday morning (Jan. 31, 2020) to purchase face masks as protection against the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). There has been panic buying of face masks since the Department of Health confirmed the first case of nCoV in the country on January 30. (PNA photo by Gil Calinga)

MANILA — Consumer advocate Laban Konsyumer, Inc. (LKI) has urged the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to buy masks in bulk and distribute them to retail outlets at controlled prices.

LKI president Victorio Mario Dimagiba said on Friday the Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC) has done the same when there was a supply issue in medicine, cement, and sugar, among others.

Dimagiba also suggested that mask importers be identified and their warehouses inspected.

“The Bureau of Import Services of DTI can identify mask importers and warehouses’ location. The PNP-CIDG (Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group) can conduct intelligence operation,” he added.

The department should also ensure that masks being sold in the market have passed the quality test, Dimagiba added.

Several pharmacies in Metro Manila were reported with no available supplies of surgical face masks and N95 masks after the government confirmed the first case of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCov) in the country.

A shop in MRT Ayala station was spotted selling surgical masks for PHP130 for a pack of 10 or PHP13 per piece, way above the suggested retail price of PHP1 to PHP8 per mask.

An online retailer, who declined to be named, also said they cannot get N95 masks from their Chinese supplier as the latter wanted to prioritize its local market, where the virus originated.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said there is only one surgical mask and N95 mask manufacturer in the country — Medtecs International Corp. Ltd. — with a facility in Bataan.