Supermarkets must provide workers with free PPEs, disinfectants –Imee

Supermarket owners who do not provide their workers with personal protective gear and disinfectants amid the COVID-19 pandemic must be held liable for the failure, Senator Imee Marcos said on Monday.

"'Yung isang malaking supermarket, binigyan lang sila (workers) ng face mask ng isang beses at ang mga sumunod na araw sila na ang dapat mag-provide ng kanilang mga gamit. 'Yung mga security guard naman, binigyan sila ng face shield pero pagdating sa face mask sila na ang bumili para sa kanilang sarili," Marcos said in a statement, without naming specific establishments.

"Ano ba yan, pati ba naman face mask ipagdadamot nyo pa sa sarili ninyong mga empleyado? Kakarampot na nga lang ang sinasahod ng mga cashier, bagger at promodizer, pero natitiis pa ninyong sila mismo ang bumili ng face mask at alcohol," she added.

The Department of Labor and Employment and the Department of Trade and Industry should investigate if the supermarkets in operation were complying with the guidelines they released

Under the guidelines for establishments that are allowed to operate, employers were required to provide the appropriate face masks to workers, and sanitizers should be made available in areas where workers pass by.

Earlier, Senator Risa Hontiveros also called for mass testing of returning workers, including the asymptomatic, after Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said not all employees had to be tested for COVID-19.

"Hindi mandatory ang COVID-19 testing. Kung symptomatic, i-test dapat. Pero kung hindi po, hindi mandatory ‘yan," Bello said, adding employers just have to comply with minimum health standards and strict sanitation protocols as they resume working. — DVM, GMA News