Aboitiz Group ramps up Covid-19 response in Cebu
The Aboitiz Group has extended much-needed assistance to Cebu’s frontliners in public hospitals and quarantine facilities as the city grapples with the dreaded Coronavirus (Covid–19) disease.
Aboitiz has so far contributed around P25 million in various Covid–19 response initiatives. These include distribution of food packs and meal assistance, protective personal equipment (PPE), tents, and financial assistance to the frontliners in several hospitals and quarantine facilities around the city.
Through its corporate social responsibility arm Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. and its Cebu-based business units led by power distribution company Visayan Electric Company, Inc. (Visayan Electric), Aboitiz provided three meals a day for several weeks to about 1,500 frontline workers in Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) and Cebu City Quarantine Center (CCQC), as well as nine other private hospitals.
“A heartfelt thank you for this kind gesture. This will surely uplift the morale of our staff in these trying times,” said September Regis of UCMed, a private hospital in Mandaue City.
Few weeks ago, AboitizPower Distribution Utilities Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Anton Mari G. Perdices led the turnover of 100,000 surgical masks and over 10,000 coveralls to VSMMC and 200,000 surgical masks to the CCQC and the New Normal Oasis for Adaptation and a Home (NOAH) Complex in Cebu City in partnership with PT Bayan Resources.
Cebu City Vice Mayor Michael Rama, who received the donation at the NOAH Complex, thanked the Aboitiz Group and PT Bayan Resources for their efforts in helping Cebu City in its fight against the pandemic.
“We can fight COVID because we, the government and the private sector, are working as one,” Vice Mayor Rama said.
Perdices assured the local government and the community that Aboitiz is a ‘partner’ in the fight against Covid–19.
“Visayan Electric and the Aboitiz Foundation continue to work tirelessly to support the personnel at the frontline of the battle against COVID–19. We are one with the government’s response efforts and we will continue to look for ways to provide #PositiveEnergy and contribute to initiatives addressing the current health crisis,” said COO Perdices.
The VSMMC is a Department of Health-accredited COVID–19 testing center and caters to patients from Central Visayas.
Records as of July 28 showed that VSMMC’S average bed utilization was at 50% to 70% full capacity with 350 frontliners attending to the patients’ needs while CCQC’s 200-bed capacity was at 30% utilization with 60 Covid–19 patients and 150 frontliners.
“We really need these PPEs and we appreciate that companies like you are ready to extend assistance when we need it the most,” said VSMMC Director Dr. Gerardo Aquino who personally received the PPE donations.
The NOAH Complex and the CCQC were set up by the Cebu City government and currently house COVID–19 patients who have mild to moderate symptoms. The tents donated by the Aboitiz Group to NOAH Complex were made possible through the help of the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation.
The Aboitiz Group continues to contribute to the country’s COVID–19 response efforts. To date, the Aboitiz Group has contributed P2.2 billion for its COVID–19 response efforts nationwide. This excludes various payments waived, reduced, extended, or restructured to help customers cope with the impact of COVID–19.
