DTI: Philippines can now locally produce PPEs

The Philippines is now able to locally produce personal protective equipment (PPEs) for frontliners amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the Department of Trade and Industry said Thursday.

During a hearing of the Committee of the Whole, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said that 10 companies in the Philippines have agreed to produce protective gear.

"'Yung mga kumpanya po na naka locate dito, whether foreign or local, we have managed to convince them to repurpose some of their capacity. So we are able now to locally produce mga PPEs, coveralls, the masks," Lopez said.

"'Yung sa Bataan at meron pa pong nadagdag mulas a Clark na Japanese company. And there are other electronics companies that are now doing masks as well as ventilators," he added.

The country has faced a shortage in protective gear amid the battle against the virus, leading frontliners and others to create modified versions.

The Department of Health earlier said that the lack of PPEs was due to a global shortage.

Meanwhile, at present, there are 13,434 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country with 3,000 recoveries and 846 fatalities. -MDM, GMA News