The Aboitiz Group, an organization which for a hundred years has been giving back to the community, pledged its support to the government to keep the economy running, while providing the needs of those whose lives are greatly affected by the pandemic.

As of August, Aboitiz has contributed over P2.2 billion to help the government, frontliners, and communities deal with the COVID-19 crisis.

Keeping the economy running

At the onset, the company extended financial support and benefits to its team members, including early release of bonuses and salaries, as well as coverage of medical expenses. With the vast majority of team members still working from home (WFH), the company ensures the health and safety of the workforce reporting on various Aboitiz sites and facilities to keep business operations running smoothly.

“Aboitiz is committed to providing unhampered delivery of products and services across critical sectors that will help keep our economy moving,” Aboitiz said, adding that the most important thing is ensuring that Aboitiz team members especially those in the frontlines, are well taken cared of.

The company ensured uninterrupted power supply and electrification of critical industries, communities, hospitals and other facilities, while extending payment terms for customers.

Through the Group’s banking and financial services subsidiary UnionBank, Aboitiz has provided innovative digital banking solutions, access to liquidity and service remained open to proactively serve its customers’ financial needs. UnionBank also extended loan payment deadlines (including credit card, housing, and automobile loans) and the waiving of online Instapay transfer fees for its clients.

At the onset, Its food group Pilmico mobilized food distribution to critical sectors such as hospitals and military checkpoints in various areas including Tarlac and Iligan City, providing livelihood to small bakery owners where they sourced the bread for distribution. From March to May, Pilmico and its partners have distributed about 500,000 pieces of bread in various parts of the country.

Lima Water Corporation, an Aboitiz InfraCapital unit, has supported locators at the Lima Technology Center in Batangas with payment deadline extensions and waiving of late payment charges.

AboitizLand’s ensured establishments in its commercial developments will continue to offer basic necessities, as restaurants offer deliveries and take-outs to serve community needs. Its residential sales team remains ready to serve the country’s housing needs  amid the need for a safe and secure sanctuary.

Keeping the communities thriving

When the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) was imposed, Aboitiz immediately mobilized relief operations and donations to various communities throughout the country. These include the Group’s P100 million donation to “Project Ugnayan” which fed around 7.6 million people, food donations, and essential medical supplies for frontliners in hospitals, agencies, and local government units across the country.

The Group’s corporate social responsibility arm  Aboitiz Foundation, Inc., facilitated nationwide donations together with Aboitiz business units and utilized its online crowdfunding platform ‘Kinder’ to raise more funds and expand the coverage of its COVID-19 efforts. The foundation also provided food supply for COVID-19 patients and frontliners assigned in some quarantine facilities in Manila. It likewise donated P3 million to help set-up quarantine facilities in Cebu including the Bayanihan Cebu IEC Field Center.

Notably, Aboitiz Group’s power subsidiary Aboitiz Power Corp. immediately worked with the Department of Energy (DOE) to make over half a billion worth of Energy Regulations No. (ER) 1-94 funds available to its host LGUs in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao for their own COVID-19 response efforts. ER 1-94 is a policy under the DOE Act of 1992 and Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA) which stipulates that host communities will get a share of one centavo for every kilowatt-hour (P0.01/kWh) generated by power plants operating in their area.

To date, the Aboitiz Group and its business units have collectively donated hundreds of thousands of medical supplies including N95 and surgical masks, PPE kits, infrared thermometers, nitrile and latex gloves, laboratory and disposable goggles, gowns, hazmat suits, face shields, alcohol, hand sanitizers, as well as tents and medical equipment such as ventilators to various public and private hospitals all over the country. These were distributed in partnership with the Department of Health and various local government units.

The Aboitiz Group has also donated over 4,000 rapid test kits in Batangas and partnered with other private firms to build four BSL-2 modular laboratories to help boost confirmatory testing capacity in the country.

Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. fed hundreds of frontliners and patients at the Rizal Memorial Quarantine Facility in Manila with three daily meals to help ease their burden.

The Aboitiz Group also donated much-needed medical equipment, protective gear, and other related items to government and military frontliners, as well as to government hospitals, in recognition of their hard work and valuable presence amid the crisis. These include the  Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, Bureau of Immigration, Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council, the Bureaus of Customs and Quarantine, and the Departments of National Defense, Labor and Employment, Agriculture, Trade and Industry, Transportation, and Social Welfare and Development.

Visayas and Mindanao aid

Recognizing the nationwide threat of COVID-19, Aboitiz through its various business units also stepped up its COVID-19 response efforts in Visayas and Mindanao with food distribution, assistance to government hospitals, and provided livelihood to struggling families affected by the pandemic.

The Aboitiz Group also provided meal assistance (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) for frontliners and patients in various hospitals and quarantine facilities including the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) and Cebu City Quarantine Center (CCQC), as well as nine other private hospitals in Cebu.

Visayan Electric Company facilitated various COVID-19 initiatives in Cebu including the turnover of medical supplies and equipment to  VSMMC, CCQC, in partnership with PT Bayan Resources. It also dontated tents used as quarantine areas for asymptomatic patients to the  New Normal Oasis for Adaptation and a Home (NOAH) Complex in Cebu City in partnership with the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation.

Aboitiz’s Cebu-based family foundation, the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc., aided stranded passengers at seaports due to the ECQ and provided livelihood to small and micro-entrepreneurs whose income was affected by the pandemic.

RAFI also partnered with the Cebu City government and Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) for the launching of a handwashing campaign called #HUNAWunaw to combat the spread of COVID-19. Through #Hunaw, RAFI aims to raise awareness on the importance of proper handwashing through the deployment of portable sinks at bus terminals, parking lots, jeepney stops, and other places where people frequent around the city.

In Mindanao, the Aboitiz Group through the Aboitiz Foundation, AboitizPower subsidiaries (namely Davao Light and Power Co., Inc., Hedcor Group, Therma South, Inc. and Cotabato Light and Power Co.), Pilmico and Apo Agua Infrastructura facilitated numerous relief operations and donations of medical supplies and food packs to hospitals, checkpoints, and LGUs in Davao City, Cotabato City, Iligan City, Sultan Kudarat, Cotabato and Datu Odin Sinulat, Cotabato.

As of August, AboitizPower generation units Hedcor and TSI have remitted around P26 million to Davao City through the Energy Regulations 1-94 (ER 1-94) program. Such funds may be fully utilized for the COVID-19 response of the LGUs.

The Aboitiz Group is committed to providing long-term efforts to help the government address the concerns of the country’s brave frontliners and the needs of affected communities as we all navigate toward healing the nation.

Source: businessmirror.com.ph