THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the City Price Coordinating Council (CPCC) warned against groups or individuals who are allegedly selling overpriced face masks.
DTI-Northern Mindanao Consumer Welfare Division Chief lawyer Fel Lester Brillantes said the face masks that are grossly in excess of its true worth are sold online.
Brillantes said they tapped the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) to investigate several complaints against online sellers.
The DTI is asking the public to provide the names, photos and videos of the said sellers so they can forward it to the CIDG to determine whether they are profiteering or not.
"If they are selling online and they are selling it in a price that is grossly in excess of its true worth, we will file formal charges for violation of Consumer Act of the Philippines. It can also be for violation of the Price Act," Brillantes said.
"For the criminal aspect, the CIDG can also file a case on the criminal aspect of the Consumer Act after the investigation," he added.
Demand for the face masks has skyrocketed since January after Taal volcano spewed ash, and this time, as a defense against the coronavirus threat.
The Consumer Act's Section 52 bans Unfair or Unconscionable Sales Act or Practice, which bans sellers from exploiting buyers based on "physical or mental infirmity, ignorance, illiteracy, and lack of time or the general conditions of the environment or surroundings."
Meanwhile, supply of N95 and disposal surgical face masks in pharmacies and retailers in four of the five provinces in the region is depleted.
Brillantes said only Misamis Occidental still sell face masks but once available, they run out fast.
However, Brillantes said during their monitoring last Monday, February 3, with the CPCC, they discovered a drugstore in Cagayan de Oro City that regulates its selling of face masks, only offering five masks per customer.
"That was a welcome development kasi ma-prevent ang panic buying, ma-prevent ang hoarding," Lawyer Edgardo Uy, the CPCC chairman, said.
Uy also requested those businesses and individuals who possess available supply of face masks to not sell it in bulk but in equitable distribution.
At present, the DTI continues its monitoring operations while the CPCC, for its part, will soon be conducting its official monitoring after discussions with the Department of Health and DTI on matters pertaining to profiteering and hoarding.