Authorities discovered P70 million worth of alleged fake and smuggled face shields from China in a raid in Parañaque City on Thursday, May 20, as the government tightens its monitoring of counterfeit coronavirus disease (COVID-19) safety equipment that are flooding the market.
Joint personnel of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and Bureau of Customs (BOC) found boxes of inauthentic “Heng De” face shields that were illegally sneaked in the country and stored in a warehouse in Barangay BF Homes.
The PCG said the smuggled face shields "did not pass the appropriate inspection" by the BOC.
“ may not be declared safe for use by the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA),” it added.
BOC personnel are set to destroy the face shields after it finished its accounting and a follow-up investigation to determine the culprit behind the smuggling of fake COVID-19 safety gears.