The national government has distributed more than 7.5 million cloth face masks under its “Libreng Mask Para sa Masa” project.
This was disclosed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), a member of the Task Group Face Mask (TG FM) that is tasked to ensure the distribution of the face masks to the local government units (LGUs) as part of the Duterte administration’s campaign to prioritize the safety of citizens during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
The DSWD said a total of 3,289,660 pieces of cloth face masks were turned over to the local chief executives of cities of Caloocan, Makati, Davao, and Iloilo from Feb. 3 to Feb. 10.
Caloocan got the biggest share with 1,194,000, followed by Davao and Iloilo with 852,330 each, and Makati, 391,000.
"With this, a total of 7,576,360 face masks were already turned over to 24 municipalities and cities, and three provinces,” the DSWD said.
The “Libreng Face Mask Para Sa Masa” presidential initiative seeks to strengthen the government’s strategic plan to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 infections. The project aims to encourage the public to follow the minimum public health standards, and to support the micro, small, and medium enterprises whose operations were disrupted by the pandemic.
Aside from DSWD and DTI, also sitting as members of the TG FM are the Department of Health (DOH), Procurement Service of Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Office of Civil Defense (OCD), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and Department of Science and Technology- Philippine Textile Research Institute (DOST-PTRI).