(Eagle News)–Senator Richard Gordon has stressed the need for the government to stockpile on face masks, medical gowns, personal protective equipment and other strategic medical supplies to ensure sufficient stocks during epidemics and calamities.
In filing Senate Bill No. 1347 or the Stockpiling Act of 2019, Gordon said if the country has sufficient supplies in stockpile, there would be no panic buying during emergencies.
He cited as an example the sudden increase in the price of face masks during the height of the Taal eruption and amid the novel coronavirus scare.
“As you know the world is challenged severely right now by the COVID-19. Sports tournaments are being cancelled. China has over 2000 people dead. Ang sekreto dito is the foresight. Stockpiling is a strategic part of our security, of the national interest, that the government look ahead. We have to anticipate so that when something happens, the government can respond,” he said.
The bill seeks to amend the charter of the Philippine International Trading Corporation to give the agency more authority in carrying out the proposed stockpiling.
“Kapag may naka-stockpile tayo hindi mahihirapan ang mga tao, katulad ng face masks – hindi tataas ang presyo, walang magho-hoarding dahil may supply. Disasters will hit you where you least expect it,” he said.
President Rodrigo Duterte has declared a state of calamity in Calabarzon also to mitigate the effects of Taal’s eruption, such as a price freeze in those areas.
