Big firms lend hands to COVID-19 fight

The world faces unprecedented challenges brought by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.  It has changed the way communities, governments and businesses function, underscoring the importance of healthcare and public-private sector collaboration to help all communities affected by the crisis, especially those most vulnerable.  Providing unwavering assistance to the Filipino community, some of the country’s largest companies have joined the fight against COVID-19 in various and equally crucial ways. SM Group 

The SM group of companies has donated over P170 million for medical sup-plies for hospitals combatting COVID-19 nationwide. The donation includes personal protective equipment such as suits, face shields, gloves, N95 and sur-gical masks and goggles, among others.  It is also shifting its focus to digital channels in order to ensure the continuity of its programs. The group has various efforts in the education, agriculture and healthcare as well as partnerships with brands like Goldilocks and Uniqlo Philippines to provide food and care packs to frontliners and various communities.  On top of this, SM Group also donated P100 million to Project Ugnayan, a fund-raising platform composed of big businesses in the Philippines, bringing the group’s total donations to well over P270 million.  MVP Group 

The MVP group of companies, led by Manuel V. Pangilinan is also standing by its word to continue aiding the government’s efforts in the fight against COVID-19.  The group has advanced its tax payments ahead of the June deadline to help boost the government’s war chest to combat COVID-19, while also jacking up investments in its health business and conducting donations to various groups nationwide.  MVP Group, which includes Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and Philex Min-ing Corp. among its members, earlier on also sent 30 units of Toyota Vios se-dans and cargo vans to the Armed Forces of the Philippines, as well as 10 buses to the Philippine Army to ramp up response to COVID-19.  The MVP Group also partnered with the Department of Works and Highways and the Iglesia ni Cristo to transform the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan into a 300-bed mega-treatment facility in April. PLDT, Inc. 

PLDT, Inc., the Pangilinan-led telecommunications giant, has also contributed its resources to help build up the response to COVID-19.  In March, it partnered with the University of the Philippines Manila Philippine General Hospital for a dedicated telemedicine hotline for COVID-19 response, 155200.  It also rolled out its free Speedboost for some areas covered by quarantine re-strictions, allowing for faster internet connection especially for employees working from home. It likewise gave PLDT Home subscribers free access to verified government and news websites.  Ayala Corp. 

The country’s oldest conglomerate Ayala Corp. (AC) joined the COVID-19 fight by announcing a massive response package worth P2.4 billion for its businesses. The amount covers the wage, bonuses, leave conversions, loan deferments and rent coverage of AC partners and employees under its various subsidiaries.  The Ayala Group of Companies also took a key role in the conversion of the World Trade Center in Pasay City into a temporary healthcare facility for CO-VID-19 patients, under which it pooled P46.4 million for the project with the ICCP Group, Manila Exhibition Center, Inc. and the Bases Conversion Devel-opment Authority (BCDA) and the National Government. Through Project Ugnayan, Ayala Corp. also helped raise P1.7 billion for gro-cery vouchers for 1.5 million urban poor families in Metro Manila under the quarantine.  Wilcon Depot, Inc. 

Leading home improvement and construction supply retailer also joined the COVID-19 fight by donating 16,000 PPE and 60,000 face masks through Project Kaagapay: Protect our Healthcare Heroes and GoNegosyo, respectively, with the essential products distributed to various hospitals in Metro Manila.  It initially donated P20 million to support ABS-CBN’s Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation and the GMA Kapuso Foundation’s efforts for families and fron-tline workers, and also donated bicycles through Go Negosyo to provide trans-portation to frontliners amid the quarantine.  FirstGen Corp.

Meanwhile, the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) has accepted an offer from the Lopez Group to help the state university hospital increase 10 times its capability to test for the virus SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of the dreaded coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Within the month, Lopez-controlled First Gen Corporation and ABS-CBN Corporation will complete an ongoing donation of P46 million worth of new machines and lab equipment that will expand the hospital’s COVID-19 testing capacity from 150 to 1,500 tests per shift. The donated equipment will allow more automation and increase the volume of testing.