By Raymund Antonio Amid the dwindling supply of personal protective equipment (PPE), Vice President Leni Robredo on Monday called on the country’s engineers, architects, and industrial designers to come up with alternatives for PPEs that protect frontline health workers. Vice President Leni Robredo
(OVP / MANILA BULLETIN) Robredo, a leader of the opposition, said with the PPEs running low, it’s about time to make “alternative designs with readily available materials which can be produced and sourced locally.” ”We cannot be dependent on importers anymore as we are competing for supplies with the rest of the world,” she said in a post on her personal Facebook page. “Of course, the requirement is it would still offer the same amount of protection,” Robredo pointed out. The vice president made the call as her own office has started to run out of PPE sets that they distribute to hospitals in and outside Metro Manila. Medical professionals and health workers have been working tirelessly to contain the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. But the lack of supply of PPEs that will protect them from the deadly virus has put their lives at risk. “We have not even crossed the one month-mark yet but we are already running short of supplies,” the former lawmaker lamented. Through the ”ingenuity” of Filipinos, Robredo said she believed they can come up with ”bright ideas that will enable us to produce our own PPEs.” ”Makakatulong pa ito sa hanapbuhay ng mga tatay at nanay na marunong magtahi dahil puwede itong gawin sa loob ng bahay,” she said. (This can help the fathers and mothers, whose jobs are sewing, because they can do this at home.) As of Sunday, Robredo’s office has so far distributed 17,100 PPEs to 38 hospitals and community centers in Metro Manila, Tarlac Batangas, and Camarines Sur. The Office of the Vice President (OVP) and its private partner launched a fund drive for the purchase of the PPEs needed by health workers and frontliners.