The big donors include San Miguel Corporation which has now donated nearly ₱1 billion to COVID-19 initiatives.
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The company says it continues to look for more opportunities to help, as its assistance to various areas across the country now stands at ₱947.7 million.
This amount has come in the form of protective gear for medical frontliners, food donations to indigent communities, distribution of ethyl alcohol, and free expressway toll for health workers.
“Our people are working hard to be able to extend our assistance to more provinces and communities and to support our national government’s efforts,” SMC president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang said in a statement on Thursday.
The bulk of SMC’s donations—amounting to some ₱500 million—has been earmarked for the purchase of protective gear for medical frontliners. The company, together with the Department of Trade and Industry, earlier tapped local manufacturers, while also sourcing from international suppliers.
The company added that it has allotted food donations and distributed rice to underprivileged areas, so far amounting to an estimated total of ₱265.4 million.
SMC has also donated ethyl alcohol, produced from its Ginebra San Miguel facilities, to various institutions nationwide, including hospitals and local government units.
To further offer relief, it has waived toll fees for health workers who use the tollways operated by SMC and donated millions worth of fuel to transport them.
A ₱5-million fund has also been designated for the construction of emergency quarantine facilities in military camps nationwide, in partnership with the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Apart from these, SMC donated P100 million to “Project Ugnayan,” a broad coalition of businesses groups also helping in the COVID-19 battle.
“Our goal is to help keep our countrymen away from hunger and illness, and somehow, in our own way, give them hope during this difficult time,” Ang said.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 16) — Big businesses in the country have been active in extending aid to the government as it continues to grapple with the coronavirus epidemic.
