Local PPE makers ask gov’t: What’s the plan?

Published by rudy Date posted on May 5, 2021

By Roy Stephen C. Canivel, 5 May 2021

A group of local manufacturers, which repurposed their facilities at the request of the government could now make tens of millions of personal protective equipment (PPE) in a year, but the Duterte administration had bought only a portion of that supply, which forced the group to lay off workers.

The Confederation of Philippine Manufacturers of PPE (CPMP) is made of five manufacturers with decades of experience in electronics and garment manufacturing. They were asked by the Department of Trade and Industry in March last year to repurpose their facilities to make medical-grade PPE, a move which cost the companies an initial investment of $35 million.

As of the third quarter of 2020, CPMP has a total capacity to make 720 million masks, 36 million coveralls and isolation gowns and 120 million PPE-related accessory covers.

“Unfortunately, the local supplier’s capacity was not maximized in the overall government procurement setup,” CPMP said in a statement on Tuesday, which urged the government to come up with a comprehensive stockpiling program.

All of the PPE the group made are medical-grade, which means they can be used by the country’s health workers. To ensure quality, each PPE had to be tested by international certifying bodies, since the country has no local testing capacity for it.

A comprehensive procurement program should include different processes in the supply chain, including how each PPE is tested.

“If these steps are accounted for in the supply chain and planning of the government, stringent rules can be put in place. This is one clear advantage of sourcing the product from local manufacturer[s],” CPMP said. INQ

June 2025

Philippine Environment Month!
“Action for Nature, for the Future!”


Invoke Article 33 of the ILO Constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar
to carry out the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry recommendations
against serious violations of
Forced Labour and Freedom of Association protocols.

Accept National Unity Government (NUG)
of Myanmar.  Reject Military!

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Time to support & empower survivors. Time to spark a global conversation. Time for #GenerationEquality to #orangetheworld!

Monthly Observances:

  1 Jun – World Day of Parents

  5 Jun – World Environment Day 

  7 Jun – World Food Safety Day 

  8 Jun – World Oceans Day

12 Jun – World Day Against
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15 Jun – World Elder Abuse Awareness Day 

16 Jun – International Day of Family Remittances 

17 Jun – World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought

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25 Jun – Day of the Seafarer 

27 Jun – Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Day

 

Daily Observances:

First Saturday of July:
International Cooperative Day
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