By Atty. Egay Uy
FOR now, the use of face shields even in open-air places is made compulsory by policymakers. If one rides in public transport, he must wear his face shield otherwise he will be asked to alight and the driver will be penalized for allowing the passenger to board the vehicle.
Then there was a change of heart, in that face shields were to be required only in certain areas, but that was short-lived. Then a seller of supposed fake face shields was apprehended. What an authentic face mask is, still baffles me.
Not long after, there was a 360-degree turnaround. Wearing face shields was again made compulsory in all places. Probably the only exception is in one’s own bathroom.
Somebody remarked, “Maayo ra man ning face shield sa hospital ug public markets. Not even in malls where the entry of people is controlled and well-screened as to compliance with the non-pharmaceutical interventions.” Who can disagree with that?
So we kept on asking why is this contraption required? Is it true that it’s only in the Philippines that face shields are mandatory? Does a face shield really provide double protection against coronavirus?
The COA findings on purchases made by the Procurement Service - DBM of possibly overpriced face shields may provide a little hint why face shields were required in practically all places at practically all times.
If my memory serves me right, each face shield was bought from a dubious indenter, a middleman if you will, at something like P120 per piece. Upon knowing this, I could only sigh because I bought one from a retailer at only P8.
How many middlemen could have made money from that face shield that I bought for P8 from the time it was brought out of the manufacturer’s inventory to the retail box of my source? Maybe, just maybe, the manufacturer’s (or the commonly-used term, wholesale) price of the face shield would be lower than half of how much I bought mine.
Then why in the world should purchase in bulk be made at a price of more than P120 per piece? And from a source with dubious credentials?
I’d rather stop thinking at this point lest it stresses me some more.
