By Fernan Angeles
EXPECT an executive order setting a price cap on RT–PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) or swab tests for COVID-19, said the Department of Health.
In a statement, Undersecretary Rosario Vergeire said that they have already asked the Office of the President to issue an EO for the suggested retail price (SRP) for coronavirus disease diagnostic methods, adding that it may be issued probably next week.
Sought for details, Vergeire said: “Wala pang balita, pero baka next week.”
Vergeire added that their hands are tired insofar as issuance of price caps even as she claimed there is no law regulating the prices of COVID-19 diagnostic methods.
“Itong [EO] po ay hinihintay natin, kasi wala po tayong batas na magsasabi na we can regulate, meron lang ho tayo sa gamot at wala tayong para diyan,” she pointed out.
Moreover, she said the DOH is conducting price surveys with different laboratories to figure out price ranges.
Early this week, Malacañang raised the possibility that President Rodrigo Duterte will impose a price cap on RT-PCR or swab tests for COVID-19.
Interestingly, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque doesn’t see it that way. Roque even claimed that the President could not possibly do what has been asked of him because of an earlier issuance that set a maximum retail price on certain medicines.
“I don’t think it is impossible for him to issue this executive order,” Roque said in a news conference.
Earlier, the DOH said that it had submitted a recommendation to the Office of the President to implement a price cap as it noted the differences in the testing cost across laboratories in the country.
Pending the President’s decision on the DOH’s request, the Palace urged laboratories to bring down prices.