CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — The Pampanga provincial government is lending an equipment to enable the Jose B. Lingad Memorial Regional Hospital (JBLMRH) to immediately start doing Covid-19 mass testing in Pampanga and six other Central Luzon provinces, Gov. Dennis “Delta” Pineda announced on Friday.
Donated by businessman Wilfredo Keng, the machine is capable of tests using polymerase chain reaction.
Keng, chair of Century Peak Group of Companies, also donated personal protective equipment, 10,000 disposable face masks, 1,000 pieces of sterile gloves, 500 protective suits, 100 protective goggles and 50 thermal scanners.
The donation came with 1,000 test kits still kept in a freezer at the V. Luna Medical Center in Quezon City.
“Ang makina po ay ating pinahihiram indefinitely sa JBLMRH para masimulan na po ang Covid-19 mass testing sa Pampanga at sa ibang probinsya ng Central Luzon. Atin ang makina, sa JBLMRH ang personmel. Ganito po ang ating tulungan,” Pineda said.
The structure that will house the equipment and a laboratory was built by a construction firm owned by provincial board member Ferdinand Labung.
Pineda thanked Keng for helping in the government’s efforts to stop the spread of Covid-19, saluting Century Peak’s high sense of corporate social responsibility. The governor also thanked Andrea “Didi” Domingo, chair of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. for helping facilitate Keng’s donation to Pampanga.
The governor will accompany the delivery of the equipment to the JBLMRH on Saturday and sign a memorandum of agreement with the JBLMRH and the Department of Health for the joint use of the equipment.
Under the MOA, JBLMRH staffers trained by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine will conduct the tests and operate the equipment.
Pineda offered the joint use of the equipment as JBLMRH’s new laboratory is scheduled for pick up in the Chinese city of Shenzhen on April 24. JBLMRH’s diagnostic molecular pathology laboratory is a grant from the Asian Development Bank, according to Dr. Monserrat Chichioco, JBLMRH medical director. — Office of the Governor
