COVID-19 Response Therma Visayas, Inc. Visayan Electric Therma Power-Visayas, Inc. Sustainability Corporate Social Responsibility

Aboitiz Group continues COVID-19 recovery efforts in Cebu, Visayas

April 22, 2020

With more areas in the country now placed under enhanced community quarantine, the Aboitiz Group is ramping up its sustained efforts in helping frontliners and affected localities amid the ongoing health crisis.

In Cebu, where most of the Aboitiz Group’s businesses began, help continues to pour in for its host communities.

As of April 21, Tuesday, the Group already distributed to various beneficiaries a total of 1,665 N95 masks, 17,000 surgical masks, 11,705 pairs of nitrile gloves, 1,600 safety goggles, four gallons of alcohol, five full suits, and 20 protective gowns.

These figures already include the items initially dropped off on April 3 by the Visayan Electric Company at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, the designated testing facility for COVID-19 in the Visayas, as well as the ones turned over by AboitizLand to the town of Liloan in northern Cebu, by Pilmico for the provincial government of Leyte, and for the Bureau of Immigration in Cebu.

“The Aboitiz Group is one with the government and our brave medical and security frontliners who are working hard to defeat COVID-19. We are committed to supporting the COVID-19 frontliners for the long term. Rest assured, we will continue to find ways to help our fellow Filipinos whose health and lives are at risk due to this pandemic,” said Sabin M. Aboitiz, Aboitiz Group President and Chief Executive Officer.

Cebu is home to several Aboitiz-led businesses including several AboitizPower subsidiaries, Visayan Electric Company, AboitizLand, Pilmico, Aboitiz Construction, and City Savings Bank, among others.

Earlier in March, AboitizPower-led Therma Visayas, Inc. (TVI) already turned over close to P500,000 worth of medical supplies, personal protective equipment, and food to the Toledo City Government. The donation included 200 bottles of ethanol alcohol, 100 boxes of surgical face masks, 100 boxes of sterile gloves, 2,500 food packs, 2,000 canned goods, 20 sacks of rice, and liquid hand soap and bleach.

TVI also extended support to the rest of Cebu’s third district through its donation to the office of Deputy House Speaker Pablo John “PJ” Garcia. Among the items that were turned over last April 2 were 175 HazMat suits, 100 N95 masks, and 20 boxes of nitrile gloves.

Furthermore, Therma Power Visayas, Inc. (TPVI) donated P500,000 worth rice to the City of Naga through its General Services Office on March 26 and March 31, which the local government is eyeing to complement the food packs due for distribution to constituents within the month of April.

Pilmico, the Aboitiz Group’s food arm, is also distributing 1,200 pieces of bread to frontline workers around Cebu province for one month starting March 26.

Meanwhile, the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (Rafi), the Aboitizes’ family foundation, has partnered with the Cebu City government and Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) for the launching of a handwashing campaign called #Hunaw to combat the spread of COVID-19.

Through #Hunaw, the Cebuano word for wash, 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.

The Aboitiz Group has so far already contributed around P130 million to public and private campaigns nationwide, all of which are aimed at assisting communities affected by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The amount includes P100 million recently donated to Project Ugnayan, a collaboration among local companies in partnership with the Philippine Disaster Relief Foundation (PDRF).

These recent turnovers are part of the Aboitiz Group’s long-term efforts to help the government address the concerns of frontliners as well as the communities it serves amid the pandemic.