Mayor Jun Rosales called the attention of the officials from Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)-Northern Samar regarding the prices of medical supplies in pharmacies.

He was particularly concerned about the price of thermal scanner at a local branch of one big pharmaceutical chain which apparently increased to 30% within just a day (from P9,000 to P12,000). This is despite the “price freeze” on commodities that the DTI imposed.

The DTI officials assured that they are continuosly monitoring the prices at stores in the province and they will investigate the pharmacy that mayor Rosales has complained about.

Nevertheless mayor Rosales said the local government unit has no choice at the moment but to buy the medical supplies despite the apparent “overpricing” as these are urgently needed for the different anti-COVID 19 activities in Catarman. He will attend to the issue later when the coronavirus crisis is over to see that establishments that overpriced on their goods under the emergency situation will be penalized.

The mayor resolved to reactivate the Local Price Coordinating Council (LPCC) as suggested by the body.

The ITFA COVID-19/ICS convenes regularly for updating and evaluation of the different tasks assigned to each committee.