JAIME Augusto Zobel de Ayala, Ayala Corp. chairman, said the concerted response in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has highlighted the ideal partnership between the government and the private sector.
Speaking at the United Nations Global Compact Academy’s webinar “#UnitingBusiness to Respond to COVID-19” Tuesday, Zobel noted how such has been instrumental in effectively addressing the immediate needs of the Philippines, as the country’s main island Luzon enters the 57th day of enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).
“We’ve been working hand in hand with the government to see what kind of economic stimulus would be necessary. Not a day goes by in the Philippines where the private sector and the public sector are not having dialogues, exchanging notes, and seeing where we can help each other at all different levels,” Zobel said.
“Out of a difficult and painful situation, we can all come out of this in a way that we’ve created a new sense of purpose in unity — in our constituency, in our communities — then I think there’s a lot that we can build on in the future,” he added.
Zobel recalled that immediately after the implementation of the ECQ, the Ayala group unveiled a P5.5 billion COVID-19 response package which aims to protect its employees, support the tenants of its malls and commercial properties, and provide relief to the communities it serves.
Zobel said this package enabled the group’s more than 72,000 direct-hire employees as well as 75,000 day laborers in its construction business to have financial security in a time of uncertainty.
Zobel also acknowledged the importance of supporting micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which cover 60 percent of total annual revenues of Philippine businesses, contribute about 35 percent of the total gross domestic product, and employ 63 percent of Filipino workforce.
“As such, Ayala commits to supporting its network of 200,000 SMEs and over 1 million micro enterprises under three key aspects, namely, health, business continuity through digitalization, and financial assistance,” he said.
“For instance, AC Health opened a 24/7 medical hotline. Meanwhile, Globe offered digital packages for work-from-home arrangement and data storage requirement, while BPI currently works on a product that will help MSMEs recover,” he added.
Zobel also noted that in partnership with the government, the Ayala group took the lead in the conversion of the World Trade Center to a 500-bed quarantine facility, which was turned over to the Armed Forces of the Philippines in less than two weeks.
The Ayala group also donated all the testing booths for four Mega Swabbing Centers, which aim to swab 55,000 individuals in the Greater Manila Area over the next three weeks.
“Moreover, through Go Negosyo’s Project ARK, Ayala and other big business groups donated RT-PCR machines to ramp up the testing capacities of six government hospitals at 7,000 swab tests per day,” Zobel said.
“The Ayala group has also been instrumental in collaborating with other members of the private sector for Project Ugnayan, a multi-sectoral initiative that reached 5,445,255 urban poor families, equivalent to over 7.6 million Filipinos, through different distribution channels led by Caritas Manila’s Project Damayan,” he added.
Zobel however stressed that such “short-term solutions” are not enough to address the “bigger issues.”
He said the pandemic has exposed how vulnerable the community is, representing an opportunity to realign business strategies to make everyone resilient in the future.
“If ever there’s a time to basically reflect on the way we’ve all been doing things and on the kind of world we want to create, it is now,” Zobel said. “In the end, we can emerge as more unified, more resilient.”
As a founding member of the United Nations Global Compact Network Philippines, the Ayala group believes that sustainability is key to a better future. It supports Global Compact’s 10 Principles and aligns its business objectives with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to Zobel.
To further the group’s contribution to a sustainable future, it launched its own Ayala Sustainability Blueprint that features specific SDGs, with particular business units as champions. Each business unit sets a target to help bring the Filipino to Ayala’s vision of 2030.
