Department of Social Welfare and Development Undersecretary Rene Glen Paje (middle, left photo), together with members of the Task Group Face Mask, hands over boxes of reusable face masks to Malabon City on January 22. A similar turnover was also held in Marikina City on January 19 (right photo).
Department of Social Welfare and Development Undersecretary Rene Glen Paje (middle, left photo), together with members of the Task Group Face Mask, hands over boxes of reusable face masks to Malabon City on January 22. A similar turnover was also held in Marikina City on January 19 (right photo).

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), together with other member-agencies of the Task Group Face Mask (TG FM), led the turn over of free reusable face masks for the poor constituents of the Cities of Marikina and Malabon on January 19 and 22, respectively.

Some 466, 000 pieces of cloth face masks were handed over by Department of Trade and Industry  (DTI) Director Lilian G. Salonga to Marikina City Mayor Marcelino Teodoro. DTI is a member of the TG FM.

Similarly, some 348,910 pieces of cloth face masks were turned over by DSWD Undersecretary Rene Glen O. Paje to Malabon City Mayor Antolino A. Oreta III.

With these two latest LGU-recipients, the TG FM has already distributed 3,237,800 pieces of cloth face masks to 18 cities and municipalities in the National Capital Region, and 3 provinces.

Rizal and Pasay will be provided with these personal protective equipment on January 26 and January 29, respectively.

The face mask distribution is in line with the presidential initiative entitled “Libreng Face Mask Para Sa Masa”. The project aims to strengthen the government’s strategic plan to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 infections by enabling and encouraging the public to follow the minimum public health standards and also to support the micro, small, and medium enterprises whose operations were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Other government agencies comprising the TG FM include the Department of Health, Procurement Service of Department of Budget and Management, Office of Civil Defense, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Armed Forces of the Philippines, and Department of Science and Technology- Philippine Textile Research Institute.###