Capitol orders alcohol manufacturers to regulate supply

Bottles of alcohol, hand sanitizers, and personnel wearing face masks greet visitors upon entering the Cebu Provincial Police Office headquarters. /CDND photo Morexette Marie B. Erram

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu Provincial Government has ordered producers of rubbing alcohol to regulate their supply despite the surging demand from consumers due to threats of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia issued and signed Executive (EO) No. 12, which is An Order Regulating the Supply of Rubbing Alcohol within the Province of Cebu.

The new EO will take effect on Saturday, March 21, 2020. It directs manufacturers of rubbing alcohol, operating in the province, ‘to limit their sales of rubbing alcohol to each of their retailers or buyers to a pre-determined volume of supply equivalent to the retailer’s average sales volume for 2019 plus an additional margin volume of only 10 percent’.

Read more: DTI limits quantity of basic goods consumers can buy

At a press conference on Friday, March 20, 2020, Garcia told reporters that policies from retailers to limit a consumer’s purchasing capacity on rubbing alcohol would not be enough to address the issue of hoarding.

“If they’re going to look at the sales from all their accounts, they’ll notice an abnormal behavior — way abnormal than the average they made in 2019,” said Garcia in Cebuano.

She said to solve the issue of hoarding and minimize the possibility of a shortage, there’s a need to put intervention at the source or production point.

“The EO will direct producers of rubbing alcohol that their accounts — or these retailers they have partnered to distribute their products — shall only be given what was the average sales for 2019 plus an increment of 10 percent,” Garcia said.

The governor also criticized outlets and sellers of rubbing alcohol for taking advantage of the COVID-19 situation as means to profit, and added that the EO issued would also help normalize the supply.

“Some of those that sell rubbing alcohol are not sincere in implementing policies that limit — let’s say, a person from purchasing up to two alcohol bottles,” said Garcia.

“This is profit for them — imagine, a month’s worth of income from rubbing alcohol can be achieved within a day? That’s greed,” she added.

During the Capitol’s previous meetings with various stakeholders, suppliers and retailers of basic necessities in Cebu province expressed their concern to government officials on the declining supply of sanitary products such as surgical masks, and rubbing alcohol./dbs