By Noreen Jazul
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said it has been working with online platforms to remove product listings of overpriced masks.
People buying protective masks at a medical supplies store in Manila on January 31, 2020. (Photo by Ted ALJIBE / AFP / MANILA BULLETIN)
"We have initiated contact with online platforms para tanggalin nila iyong page na iyon (to remove the pages)," Trade Undersecretary Ruth Castelo told ANC in a television interview Tuesday.
Castelo said the price of masks sold online is higher than the Department of Health's suggested retail price (SRP).
"P500 divided by 50 pieces, so 10 pesos ang isa, ang SRP ng DOH ngayon is only up to P8," she said.
Castelo said a new supply of face masks will be arriving this week.
'Masks not required, unless sick'
The World Health Organization, meanwhile, reiterated that only those who are sick are required to wear masks.
WHO representative to the Philippines Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe, in a Senate hearing Tuesday, said they are "advocating that people with respiratory symptoms and signs need to be careful."
"Evidence to date is that more than 90% of the transmissions actually attribute to symptomatic people," Abeyasinghe told senators.
READ MORE: DTI Region 11 prods public to complain about overpriced face masks