Helping the Frontliners in the fight against COVID-19 : MVP Group provides assistance to health workers, communities

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The Tulong Kapatid, the corporate social responsibility consortium of companies, foundations and affiliates under the leadership of Manuel V. Pangilinan, conducted a series of relief efforts and activities to help frontline health workers, government response teams as well as some underprivileged and homeless families in Metro Manila.

“We are fully committed to supporting our frontline health workers who are working tirelessly to save lives and to combat this pandemic. We will continue to pour in resources to address the needs and demands of our frontline workers, including PPEs and relief packages,” said PLDT Chairman and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan.

To date, here are some of the efforts of the Tulong Kapatid:

• Frontline health workers and government hospitals also recently received 14,000 Liters of 70% Ethyl alcohol donation from the Tulong Kapatid. The ethyl alcohol donation was from the Roxol Bioenergy Corporation, a company under the Roxas Holdings, Inc. These were transported and distributed to Metro Manila through the assistance of the Metropac Movers, Inc., PLDT-Smart Foundation (PSF) and the Makati Medical Center Foundation. 

• Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC), along with Metro Pacific Investments Foundation (MPIF), provided personal protective equipment (PPEs) such as nitrile gloves, goggles, and coveralls, as well as boxes of vitamins to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) and the Philippine Genome Center. Initial donation of 500 units of 1,000 virus specimen collection tubes were also turned over to RITM.

• 200 PPEs, 100 boxes of Clusivol, and 10 Tulip Tabletop Water Filters were also donated to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital.

• MPIC and MPIF will also provide 1,000 full PPE kits containing surgical face masks, N95 face masks, disposable head caps, disposable shoe covers, disposable coveralls, disposable surgical gowns, and anti-fog goggles to frontliners in several hospitals and healthcare centers within the region.

• One Meralco Foundation (OMF) turned over their PPE donation which consisted of goggles, surgical gloves, face shields and face masks to the Rizal Medical Center, Philippine Heart Center, Philippine General Hospital, Lung Center of the Philippines, Lourdes Hospital and Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital.

• PSF and Alagang Kapatid Foundation Inc. (AKFI) turned over hygiene kits and care packages which included N95 and surgical masks to frontline health workers at the Philippine General Hospital and East Avenue Medical Center, National Center for Mental Health, National Kidney and Transplant Institute, Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP), Philippine Children’s Medical Center, National Children’s Hospital and Veterans Memorial Medical Center.

• PSF in partnership with Makati Medical Center Foundation (MMCF) also turned over 12,500 reusable facemasks to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and hospital health workers and 14,400 pcs of Ascorbic Acid to the Lung Center of the Philippines. Along with that, PSF and MMCF decontaminated facilities of AFP General Headquarters and LCP.

• PSF is continuously preparing to distribute grocery packs, hazmat suits, ascorbic acids and reusable face masks to several hospitals and communities in Metro Manila and other regions.

• Subscribers of PLDT, Smart, Sun and TNT also continue to convert their MVP Rewards to donations to the PSF.

• AKFI distributed relief packs, hygiene kits and bottled water to street dwellers and Persons with Disabilities (PWDs).

• In coordination with the Philippine Marine Corps, AKFI distributed almost 3,800 servings of cooked food and water bottles from Maynilad to various hospitals and troops.

• AKFI also provided over 4,000 eggs to various communities and hospitals through the Ronald Mcdonald House of Charities. Through various donors, AKFI also turned over several relief packs, masks and plastic rolls to several hospitals in Metro Manila.

• OMF also partnered with AKFI to provide relief packs to homeless families in Quezon City and in Baseco Compound, Manila. Food packages were also provided to marginalized families in Brgy. Buting, Pasig City, in partnership with the Philippine National Police, and in Bacoor and Ternate, Cavite; Las Piñas City, Malabon and Pateros.

• Meralco provided flood lights to illuminate the parking area of the Lung Center of the Philippines that has been converted into patients’ triage and queueing area.

• Meralco’s electric vehicle subsidiary eSakay also supported Pasig City by providing and operating six electric jeeps to help transport healthcare frontliners to and from Pasig City General Hospital. The initiative began last March 19, 2020.

• Meralco employees raised P1M and has turned over the funds to PDRF’s Project Ugnayan to help feed homeless families in Manila through Caritas Manila’s Project Damayan.

• To help in the mission of the Philippine Genome Center (PGC), Meralco through OMF donated 20 desktop computers to the organization. In order to provide scientists with crucial information to mitigate the spread of the disease, the PGC is sequencing samples from COVID-19 patients admitted at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), The Medical City, and PGH. PGC will also serve as the operations center of a bayanihan effort of various groups within the University of the Philippines system to help respond to the COVID crisis. Around 200 volunteers are expected to participate in this effort.

• Maynilad also provided around 27,000 bottled water to frontline workers from the Philippine Navy, Philippine National Police, Metro Manila Development Authority, National Capital Region Police Office, Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, Philippine General Hospital, Lourdes Hospital, several local government units, and to various checkpoints in the metropolis. Maynilad also partnered with DPWH in the disinfection of national highways by providing watering points for its disinfection tankers.

• Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation, through NLEX, SCTEX, CAVITEX and CALAX, continues to do its work to ensure unhampered movement of goods and transit of personnel of industries allowed to operate amid the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine.  It has also supported and cooperated with the Joint Inter-Agency Task Force Covid-19 SHIELD in the set ups and smooth operations of its checkpoints. MPTC also continuously provides shuttling services to health workers of various hospitals.
   

The Tulong Kapatid continues to do its part in empowering Filipinos in the time of the COVID-19 crisis. Its commitment to provide a nationwide service is anchored on its core value of malasakit. The Tulong Kapatid fuels sparks of hope as it reaches out to various sectors and communities, including frontline health workers, government response teams and the underprivileged.

Above all, these efforts are ultimately inspired by the frontline workers who are working tirelessly to combat this pandemic. The commitment to serve is now seen through the lens of every frontline worker – a doctor, a nurse, a checkpoint officer, a janitor, a food delivery personnel. Each one of them changing the narrative of what resiliency means into something deeper – one that encompasses bravery and strength. One that can only be aptly described as being a hero. 

Here’s to our frontline heroes.