SENATOR Francis “Tol” Tolentino has advised the Department of Health (DOH) to preposition the supply of face masks to local government units (LGUs) and schools around Taal Volcano, which has been spewing steam and ash recently.
In his DZRH program on Saturday, September 23, Sen. Tolentino told Dr. Ariel Valencia, DOH regional director of CALABARZON to coordinate with other DOH regional offices with a stockpile of face masks and provide them supplies for prepositioning in the affected areas by smog and ‘vog.’
The lawmaker is anticipating the possible exploitation of unscrupulous individuals for the scarcity of face masks in the areas affected by the volcano by jacking up the price.
Dr. Valencia said that Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa has already issued a directive on September 22 regarding the supply of face masks affected by the volcanic activity of Taal aside from standing protocol to always request from neighboring regions “if resources (are) needed.”
Sen. Tolentino said that the supplies of face masks the neighboring DOH regions would provide to DOH CALABARZON could already be given for free to those in the areas affected by the activity of Taal Volcano.
He was also concerned about the affected workers in the export processing zones in the provinces of Cavite, Batangas, and Laguna and to ensure that they would be given face masks, whether by the companies they are working for, the LGUs they belong to or the DOH.
