Paper Masks Confiscated In Surprise Inspection In Cebu City

CEBU CITY – A surprise inspection from the Cebu City government and other concerning agencies resulted in the confiscation of paper masks.

According to SunStar, the high demand of surgical masks have prompted certain vendors to sell useless paper masks and some pharmacies to overprice their stock.

The inspection was conducted by representatives of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Philippine National Police (PNP), Department of Health (DOH), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the city government on February 6.

In their inspection, at about 5 vendors along Leon Kilat Street were selling masks made out of paper that were rendered useless and unsafe.

“It’s unsafe because we don’t know where they got it because it has no cover when it was sold. It has no label where it came from,”

This was from City Market Administrator Jonil Matuguina who also said that the paper masks were incapable of protecting anyone from acquiring diseases since they have no filter compared to surgical masks.

As per the report, operatives from the PNP’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) who aided the inspection team immediately confiscated the paper masks.

According to Police Major Edwin Lacostales, chief of Criminal Investigation and Detection Group 7, said that sidewalk vendors are banned from selling surgical masks due to not having a permit from the Food and Drug Administration.