ZAMBOANGA CITY -- The Department of Trade and Industry (DT) 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula) has warned drugstore owners and other businesses to comply with the department’s price-freeze order.
Ceferino Rubio, DTI provincial manager, said on Saturday that the DTI central office has issued a price-freeze order on medicines and other items amid the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) scare.
Rubio said he asked owners of pharmacies to follow the DTI’s suggested retail price of basic medicines, specifically for asthma, coughs, and colds, as well as nebules and alcohol.
“It is in the price-freeze order that the sale of ethyl alcohol, oxygen, nebulizers, asthma medicines, and others,” he said.
Rubio said DTI personnel are monitoring various drugstores and establishments, warning the owners not to violate the order or face sanctions.
“We will close the establishment and file the necessary charges against the owner if they violate the price-freeze order,” he said.
Prices of face masks shot up just after the Department of Health (DOH) has confirmed that there is already a positive case of the 2019-nCoV in the Philippines.
The 2019-nCoV was first detected in Wuhan City, Hubei province, China and has spread to other countries, including the Philippines. (PNA)
