Taiwan donates PPEs to Valenzuela, Cabuyao
SMC opens Better World Edsa
San Miguel Corp. (SMC) recently opened Better World Edsa, a facility that houses the company’s own COVID-19 RT-PCR testing laboratory which aims to test some 70,000 employees in its network
The Better World Edsa testing facility can process 4,000 tests per day, expandable to 12,000. This will help the government reach testing capacity to 50,000 per day.
It is equipped with two sets of RT-PCR machines and fully automated nucleic acid extraction systems or NATCH. A set is comprised of two PCR machines and one NATCH, making the the facility one of the most advanced private testing laboratories in the country.
SMC president and chief operating officer Ramon S. Ang said the company aims to bring back 50 percent of its workforce in the coming weeks.
Prior to the shift to general community quarantine, SMC had commenced testing its employees, prioritizing those in its food manufacturing facilities, to further stabilize the country’s food supply in the coming months.
The SMC lab is capable of continuous testing and processing of results. Among the personnel running the facility are molecular pathologists, medical technicians, data managers, and lab aides.
The Good Guys are making a difference
Employees and residents of SM Development Corp. (SMDC) in its various developments have been helping out in various ways since mid-March when the enhanced community quarantine was declared in Metro Manila.
Tenants of each residential development started a donation drive for food packs, canned goods, care kits and face masks for the service personnel who could not go home to their families. The donations were coursed through each development’s property management office.
SMDC also launched The Good Guys Care Team, a group of volunteer SMDC employees who provide assistance to elderly and PWD residents living alone in purchasing everyday essentials and in attending to their other needs.
Through the medical missions held in every SMDC development, the elderly and PWD residents have been able to get check-ups performed by the SM Foundation’s doctor and nurses. They also have been receiving vitamin supplements and reading glasses.
SMDC also started a mental wellness online session titled “Happy Mind, Happy Home Life’ in association with the Youth Mental Health Coalition (Y4MH).
Through The Good Guys Market, SMDC connected residents directly with farmers and brought the latter’s produce to the doorsteps of SMDC residents. The Market has helped residents have direct access to fresh and nutritious produce while ensuring that farmers have had a reliable source of income. Over 26,000 small and medium-scale farmers affiliated with SM Foundation’s Kabalikat sa Kabuhayan (KSK) for Sustainable Agriculture are benefitting from this community grocer initiative, which is currently running in six SMDC properties, with intent to add more in the days ahead.
People First at Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is carrying on its “People First” approach through heightened measures to protect the total well-being of its 10,000 employees nationwide, further raising its already strict safety and sanitation standards, alongside efforts aimed at introducing employee-driven healthcare initiatives.
These initiatives include programs on mental well-being and health, as well as modules on continuous personal and professional development of all of its associates–whether they are working from home or serving as industry frontliners.
Its new employee program called “Life at Coke” focuses on personal development, healthy interpersonal relationships, and open dialogue between management and the associates. “Companies are responsible for helping their employees thrive in these most challenging times,” said Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines Inc. (CCBPI) president and chief executive officer Gareth McGeown.
Through “Life at Coke,” the company has rolled out programs such as helplines and support groups, webinars on mental health in the workplace, and employee-led fitness sessions. To boost morale and increase motivation, the company also revamped its organizational development system to allow for more promotions and merit increases.
CCBPI has also set aside almost P2 billion for its employee assistance fund, ensuring that associates were paid during quarantine. Those part of the on-site and in-the-field skeletal workforce were even provided with additional allowances. Other monetary and non-monetary employee support has also been provided, such as the deferment of loan payments to cooperatives and the advanced partial pay-out of 13th month pay, along with full HMO coverage in the event any associates or dependents contracted COVID-19.
Partner for Life Advocacy Program support motorcycle mechanics,
delivery rider community amid Covid-19
Since their victory as National Champions of Partner for Life 2019, Castrol’s annual training and recognition program for motorbike mechanics, the mechanic team at MC Motorparts have experienced a massive boost in their skills and profitability, helping them service bikes of delivery riders and customers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Partner for Life courses that stood out most to them included Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI), Fault Codes, and Troubleshooting, enabling motorbike mechanics to be more effective in diagnosing what is wrong with the motorbikes brought to them.
The increasing reliance on door-to-door deliveries brought by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has made majority of MC Motorparts’ customers to rely on rider delivery members.
Partner for Life’s modules on EFI and Troubleshooting are most helpful especially during a greater demand for these services.
Vivant donates beds to LGUs
Publicly listed firm Vivant Corporation and its subsidiaries have joined the businesses in helping local government units address the needs of communities affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vivant assistance to several local government units (LGUs) in Cebu, Luzon and Mindanao included rice, canned goods, personal protective equipment (PPE) suits and masks, medicines, medical supplies, and hygiene kits.
The company also helped set-up the COVID-19 response centers of Cebu City and Bantayan, Cebu by providing beds and mattresses.
“Local governments need all the help they can get to alleviate the effects of the pandemic in our communities. As a responsible business organization, it is our duty to help even as we face challenges of our own,” Vivant Corporation President Arlo A. G. Sarmiento said.
Vivant also made donations to other local governments and government hospitals in Metro Cebu and Palawan. Vivant’s subsidiaries in La Union, Palawan, and Misamis Oriental have also been assisting host local government units address the needs of their community.
“The Vivant Group will continue to help our local government partners find solutions that will enable our communities to adapt to the new normal,” Sarmiento said.
Vivant is one of the few Cebu-based companies that is listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange. It is a management and holding company with investments in the energy sector and a growing interest in infrastructure development.
Shell’s bayanihan efforts to help Filipinos stay strong amid COVID-19 crisis
Shell companies in the Philippines have shown the bayanihan spirit in each effort it rolled out to battle the effects of COVID-19 in the country.
Roughly 693,000 beneficiaries have so far received aid from the various efforts of Shell’s programs.
Since the start of the ECQ, Shell has given 3.78 million liters of discounted fuels to frontliners, which include healthcare workers, police, military personnel, and other logistics personnel and equipment at the height of the pandemic.
Shell provided free fuel to five fleet partners, Vallacar Transit Inc., Jasper Jean, BGC Bus, Ube Express, and Transportify such that roughly 2,175 healthcare workers and critical goods were transported within the metropolis.
Shell also provided free fuel to 23 hospitals in key cities for use of more than 50 ambulances and hospital fleet vehicles.
Shell also brought relief to its loyal customers through the Shell Go+ Loyalty Program. Shell gave free Go+ points amounting to P3.16 million to many PUV drivers who lost their source of everyday income.
Beyond transportation and food, Shell also offered free vitamins to about 3,000 drivers who visited the Retail sites.
Shell retailers initiated their own activities by giving out free face masks, face shields, food, and relief goods. As Shell puts safety at the heart of its operations, it also put up handwashing facilities in select retail gas stations all over the country to benefit more than 5,000 customers and employees
Shell’s social arm, Pilipinas Shell Foundation, Inc also launched its Para sa Bayani campaign focusing on three programs, which tapped and reached out to 77 municipalities and 26 provinces outside Metro Manila. These are Ani Para sa Bayani (for farmers), Proteksyon Para sa Bayani (distribution of PPEs to frontliners), and Tulong Para sa Bayani (transport of relief goods).
IPC customers donate PPEs to frontliners through “Isuzu Kasama Mo”
Isuzu Philippines Corporation (IPC), in its continuing total commitment to be “Your Responsible Partner” not only to Filipino motorists, families, and enterprises, but also to the country’s brave and devoted healthcare and medical frontliners who continue to risk their lives in order to fulfill their daily duties, launched its “Kasama Mo” campaign last June 1.
The “Isuzu Kasama Mo” campaign effectively continues IPC’s unwavering support to the country’s frontliners during the general community quarantine. Last March, when government declared enhanced community quarantine, IPC and its dealerships lent out its reliable light commercial vehicles such as the Modernized PUV, the TRAVIZ, Mu-X and D-MAX to local governments and hospitals for use as personnel shuttle service, while other dealerships handed out face masks and bed sheets to various hospitals.
This time, IPC involves its customers as they play an important role in this campaign. Every unit purchase of any Isuzu D-MAX, Mu-X, TRAVIZ, N-Series, F-Series, and C and E Series from June 1 until July 31 (retail or fleet transaction) is equivalent to a set of PPEs that IPC will donate directly to partner organizations namely: Philippine Coast Guard, and Caritas Manila. The donations will be named on the client’s behalf.
To know more about IPC’s “Kasama Mo” campaign, and how to support our frontliners with your next purchase of an Isuzu vehicle, log on to www.isuzuphil.com, or get in touch with any authorized Isuzu dealership nearest you.
