The Philippines’ biggest liquor makers are gearing to produce a different kind of alcohol - the disinfecting agent that hospitals are in dire need of and has vanished from most grocery shelves.
Alliance Global Group Inc., parent of brandy maker Emperador Inc., also pledged to donate 1 million liters of rubbing alcohol to the novel coronavirus fight by supplying raw materials to a local producer to denature into a disinfectant, CEO Kevin Tan said. Initial deliveries have been sent across the capital and provinces in central and southern Philippines.
Just like in many places, the pandemic has sparked instances of hoarding of basic goods and medical supplies in the Philippines. The Trade Department has capped purchases of disinfectant alcohol to only two bottles per customer, with violators facing fines of as much as 2 million pesos ($39,250) and imprisonment of as long as 15 years.
The Philippines’ main Luzon island of 60 million people is on a monthlong lockdown from mid-March, as the number of confirmed cases climbed to 552 as of Tuesday.
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