Two House committees have approved a measure pressing the government to give free masks, alcohol and personal protective equipment (PPE) to teachers amid the COVID-19 pandemic. House Resolution No. 1103 was swiftly approved without objections during a joint hearing of the House committees on basic education and culture, and higher and technical education on Tuesday morning. The measure, filed by Ilocos Sur Rep. Deogracias Victor Savellano, calls on the Department of Education and Commission on Higher Education to provide PPE, masks and alcohol to teachers for free.
House panels seek free masks, PPE for teachers
MARCH 27, 2020 A sewer shows the PPE sample design made of an upper gown to the knees with a garterized hoodie, pants that already have foot coverings for whole body protection and ease of use and strings/ties on the legs and body for a proper fit on any body size. The body covering was sewn by workers under Joey Jovellano, a teacher and customized garments-maker based in Teresa, Rizal who was tapped Project PPE-PH. The online project was recently begun by Karl Manalang, a marketing manager for a travel agency who found Jovellano through an online group. Manalang said he started this to help address the problem with dwindling supplies of Personal Pretective Equipment or PPEs for frontliners in hospitals due to the increasing cases of CoVID-19. His brother, a doctor working at Dr. Jose Rodriguez Memorial Hospital in Caloocan City, told him that this was already happening there. With help and input from his family (parents are both retired doctors), relatives and friends, Manalang sought donations for funds to buy fabrics (40 GSM and the thicker 90 GSM), threads and to pay for the labor of the sewers. He said this first batch of around 100-150 pairs of PPEs will be provided for free to public hospitals like the Lung Center of the Philippines, UP-PGH, DJ Rodriguez MH and Philippine Heart Center. INQUIRER PHOTO/LYN RILLON