DOH to provide P1.5M worth of N95 masks, eye drops to ashfall-hit CALABARZON folk

Protection kits such as N95 masks and eye drops will be provided to residents of areas that will be affected by Taal Volcano's phreatic eruptions, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Monday.

Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo told GMA News Online that the DOH will supply protection kits worth P1.5 million in CALABARZON Region.

“P1.5 million worth of supplies in total will be provided,” he said in a text message.

Domingo said the DOH will coordinate with the municipal and city health officers in high-risk areas for the distribution of the items.

Interviewed on GMA News’ Unang Balita, Domingo said the department will prioritize the CALABARAZON Region because it is a high-risk area.

“Pina-prioroitize talaga natin ‘yung mga lugar na high risk, katulad po ng Region 4A. Magdadala na po kami doon, pati lalagyan ng tubig, mga eye drop, at water disinfectant para magamit,” he said.

On Monday, people lined up at stores on Bambang Street in Sta. Cruz, Manila to buy N95 masks to protect themselves from the harmful particles in the air amid ashfall.

Bambang is a known destination for medical supplies and equipment, but stores there reportedly were running low on supply of N95 masks and only have ordinary face masks.

DTI warning

As this developed, Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez warned sellers of N95 masks that they will be charged for profiteering if they jack up prices of the said masks.

Lopez told GMA News that DTI price monitoring teams have been deployed to check the supply and prices of N95 masks after reports that consumers have been buying boxes of the mask.

“I have asked our price monitoring teams to go out and check the supply and prices and be ready to charge profiteering for erring traders,” he said.

To ensure that consumers will have enough supply of N95 masks, Lopez said, “We will suggest to retailers to ration or limit purchase per customer.”

Ashfall

Metro Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council head Danilo Lim on Thursday said the following areas experienced ashfall:

• Cavite
• Batangas
• Rizal
• Northwestern portion of Quezon
• Metro Manila
• Bulacan
• Pampanga
• Bataan
• Tarlac
• Nueva Ecija
• Eastern portion of Pangasinan
• Southeastern portion of Zambales

PHIVOLCS has raised Alert Level 4 over the Taal Volcano, hours after a phreatic eruption took place at the crater on Sunday. —Tina Panganiban-PerezKBK, GMA News