Panelo: Sufficient funds for COVID-19 test kit production

On Sunday, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo and Technology Secretary Fortunato dela Peña assured the public that the government has sufficient funds for producing COVID-19 test kits.

They denied false narratives circulating on social media suggesting insufficient funding to address the outbreak.

The Philippines currently has 4,500 test kits with an additional 2,500 expected from WHO and around 6,000 developed by UP scientists in stock.

Panelo and dela Peña stressed that sufficient funds are available for production and denied calls for donations regarding access to test kits.

Manila HealthTek Inc., which manufactures the locally-developed kits at PHP1,320 per test (compared to foreign kits costing around PHP8,500), is prepared to produce more as needed.