DURING the first three months of the pandemic, Globe Telecom was able to come up with over P1.3 billion in combined services and assistance package for COVID-19.
This consists of support for Globe employees and vendor partners, services and promos, external fund-raising efforts, and monetary and in-kind donations.
The bulk of the amount went to salaries and benefits which Globe continued to provide even to managed service partners and vendor employees to help ensure their safety, health, and well-being as well as that of their families. Globe currently holds weekly rapid antibody testing of all its frontliners and has contributed to the AC Health COVID-19 facility to accommodate its workforce and their families who may contract the virus.
The company has also provided food allowance, transportation, accommodation, insurance, and medical expense assistance to its critical skeletal workforce who kept back-end operating systems including the Globe network fully operational during the enhanced community quarantine.
There were also numerous services and promos offered by Globe to assist both the government and its customers, ranging from toll-free hotlines and zero-rated access to select government websites and relevant apps, increased data allocation to customers, free unlimited WiFi services to hospitals, airports, and supermarkets, free or discounted access to work-from-home tools for businesses, free telehealth and mental health services, free preloaded mobile phones for hospital and government frontliners, and free SMS broadcast, among others.
Globe also launched donation drives to help frontliners, hospitals, and relevant government and non-government organizations. Millions of pesos were raised to purchase rapid antibody testing kits and personal protective equipment including face shields and face masks.
The company provided financial assistance for the conversion of the World Trade Center into a temporary health care facility and for the provision of relief packs for underprivileged communities.
Aboitiz Power, DoE turn over P140.1M to LGUs for COVID, other community projects
AboitizPower and the Department of Energy (DOE) recently turned over around P140.1 million worth of Energy Regulations 1-94 (ER 1-94) funds to some 36 host beneficiaries of AboitizPower business units AP Renewables Inc. (APRI) and San Carlos Sun Power Inc. (SacaSun).
The initial remittance is part of the total P351.6 million ER 1-94 funds generated by AboitizPower’s geothermal and solar facilities. The remaining funds are still being processed and will likewise be turned over to the host beneficiaries as soon as available.
The host beneficiaries of APRI and SacaSun include 24 barangays, three municipalities, and two cities in the provinces of Albay, Batangas, Laguna, and Negros Occidental. Regions IV-A, V, and VI, through the Regional Development Council (RDC), will also be given shares that they can allocate to their chosen non-host local government units (LGUs) of APRI and SacaSun within their respective regions.
ER 1-94 is a program that gives benefit to host communities through the one centavo per kilowatt-hour (PHP 0.01/kWh) share in the total electricity sales of a power generating facility located within their locality. The new DOE Circular No. DC2020-04-00080 mandates that the funds can now be utilized for COVID-19 response efforts, in support of the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act.
COVID-19 response initiatives that were so far implemented by the said LGUs include holding areas or distribution centers, medical and PPE supplies, facility decontamination, and relief goods to feed low-income households during this prolonged quarantine period.
The said funding can also be utilized for mass testing, subsidy programs (non-food items), mobile market to ensure uninterrupted availability of essential goods, construction of quarantine centers, provision of cremation and burial services, electricity cost subsidies to newly constructed health facilities, and all other reasonable means or measure to mitigate, contain, and eliminate the transmission of COVID-19.
RESQUE: Startups vs. COVID-19 competition
QBO Innovation Hub, in partnership with YBI and supported by Google.org, Google’s philanthropic arm, is launching RESQUE: Startups vs. COVID-19 Competition–a country-wide competition to help startup founders stay afloat during these uncertain times.
The competition follows after QBO has been named YBI’s delivery partner in the Philippines to develop and deliver an urgent package of support to struggling local businesses.
The RESQUE: Startups vs. COVID-19 Competition is expected to provide a holistic support program to Filipino startups. Startups can join in either of the two categories: COVID-19 Solutions for startups with innovative solutions, products, and/or services that directly tackle COVID-related challenges and Sustainable Pivots for startups that adapt and secure sustainability through pivot strategies amid the crisis.
The competition’s theme would also address loss of employment, restoration of the economy, and the creation of new opportunities for growth and development. The application period for the three-month program will be from June 15 to June 30. Interested startups can send their applications by visiting qbo.com.ph/covid-19.
Aside from a cash prize of P100,000, 10 winners will receive two months of high-touch mentorship from seasoned entrepreneurs and industry experts. The program includes learning and feedback sessions, business clinics and consultations, and access to resources. Google employees are also on board with sharing their knowledge and expertise.
The global program is led by YBI, an experienced network of enterprise support organizations.
Metro Pacific hospital beefs up virus treatment capacit
Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital (OLLH), the designated COVID-19 referral facility of Metro Pacific Hospital Holdings Inc. (MPHHI), continues to accept suspect, probable and confirmed patients in support of the government’s efforts to flatten the pandemic’s curve.
OLLH is a 230-bed capacity level 3 hospital operated by the Metro Pacific group.
To accommodate the increasing number of COVID patients in the facility, OLLH has opened multiple wards to separate patients of different symptom profiles. For example, aside from wards for COVID confirmed patients, there are separate dedicated quarantine wards for suspect cases, wards for patients developing respiratory problems thus classified as probable cases, and wards for healthcare professionals (HCPs) and health care workers (HCWs).
To augment the limited number of healthcare workers in the facility, an additional 48 nurses were deployed in OLLH from MPPHI’s nationwide network of 15 other hospitals.
The center also received more RT-PCR Testing allocations from DOH accredited labs such as RITM, UP-NIH and another MPHHI hospital Makati Medical Center.
OLLH is strictly implementing and continuously improving patient care processes for COVID and non-COVID cases.
It conducts periodic testing of frontliners as well as prompt contact tracing and quarantine procedures once health-workers develop symptoms.
Under the new normal, MPHHI member hospitals, including OLLH, are stocking up on personal protective equipment (PPEs), putting in place infrastructure improvements f
As the quarantine classification of NCR continues to ease down, OLLH expects to gradually return to its normal operations to include the booking of its ORs for surgical procedures and OB cases, and the resumption of face-to-face consultations as at least 70% of doctors return to their clinics to offer full coverage of all medical specialty services.