CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — The Bridges of Benevolent Initiative (BBI) through its corporate social responsibility arm Bridges Benevolent Initiative Foundation, Inc. (BBIFI) together with Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCor) and with the assistance of Del Mundo Prime Holdings Inc., implemented a multi-million peso Covid-19 assistance program to help different hospitals and frontliners in Pampanga.
Three ventilators were donated to the JBL Memorial Regional Hospital, Rafael Lazatin Memorial Medical Center, and Diosdado Macapagal Memorial Hospital. Complete sets of PPEs comprising isolation suits, goggles, face masks, face shields, gloves, and shoe covers were also distributed to various hospitals in the province including the Clark Airforce Hospital and San Luis Hospital as well as relief packs to the indigents and urban poor communities.
BBIFI chairman and business leader Dr. Irineo “Bong” Alvaro Jr. said the participation from the private sector should extend greater support to hospitals and frontliners in order to “end the battle together in solidarity.” With the growing number of casualties, the global demand for ventilators has rapidly increased as these are essential and paramount to help cure patients afflicted with the coronavirus, he noted.
“We are lucky we ordered the machines from China early on, anticipating the spike of global demand,” Alvaro said. “China mandated a strict government control over the shipment of the ventilators outside of their country. Luckily, the machines imported were the last batch allowed to be shipped out of China.”
The transportation of the machines and PPEs was taken care of by Del Mundo Prime Holdings Corp. president and CEO Jeffrey del Mundo along with its associate arm Del Magnificos. The group turned over the ventilators and other essential supplies to the mayors in their respective municipalities.
The Del Magnificos were known to deliver relief goods and PPEs to different communities since the start of the enhanced community quarantine donned in Money Heist costumes of red jumpsuits and Salvador Dali masks.
“While we believe that basic commodities for poor communities and PPEs for frontliners are still the primary concerns, we also wanted to give a brief moment of comic relief to somehow reduce the environment of trauma, fear, and anxiety brought about by this global pandemic,” says Del Mundo.
As the Luzon-wide lockdown goes on, BBIFI continues its strong CSR program to help indigent communities and the urban population through its own initiatives.
“The fallout from the pandemic — job losses, prolonged trauma and fear is being felt by families. The foundation felt the need to extend help and so far, we have a total of 4,000 households and families from different poor barangays who were given food packs, hygiene kits, alcohols, and face masks,” said Alvaro.
