Makati City, Philippines – May 8, 2020
Ayala Corporation is supporting TASK FORCE T3 (for Test, Trace, Treat), the Government’s partnership with the private sector to rapidly ramp up the national health care system’s capacity to beat COVID-19.
Ayala has donated all the testing booths for the four Mega Swabbing Centers that are being launched this week at the Palacio de Maynila Tent along Roxas Boulevard, the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Enderun Colleges in Taguig City and the Philippine Arena in Bulacan.
The goal of the Mega Swabbing Centers is to swab 55,000 individuals in the Greater Manila Area over the next 3 weeks. To date, a total of 125,000 have been swabbed nation-wide over the past 3 months. The massive swabbing operation will prioritize 25,000 repatriated Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who are currently quarantined in hotels and quarantine facilities, plus 30,000 individuals who are suspects, probables and healthcare workers who are constantly exposed to the virus.
“We are fully committed to helping the Government in its drive to beat COVID-19. We completely agree with its whole of nation approach, where Government, the private sector and our citizenry unite to overcome this extraordinary crisis,” said Ayala Corporation Chairman & CEO Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala. “In particular, we support the IATF’s focus on rapidly ramping up testing and the country’s healthcare capacity, as we believe these are key to saving both lives and livelihoods during this pandemic.”
The Ayala Group of Companies is supporting the Government’s efforts in other areas as well. Last month, several Ayala companies (Ayala Land, Globe, Manila Water, IMI and AC Energy) partnered with ICCP, Manila Exhibition Center, the Bases Conversion Development Authority (“BCDA”) and the Government to convert the World Trade Center into a 500 bed quarantine facility with safe, clean and controlled isolation cubicles.
“We are grateful to the Ayala group for partnering with us in this time of major crisis. We call on everyone to support TASK FORCE T3, because rapid and massive Testing, Tracing and Treating are the keys to defeating COVID-19. With our Bayanihan spirit, where the Government, the private sector and our people are united, we are confident that we can Heal as One,” said Vince Dizon, the Deputy Chief Implementer of the Government’s COVID-19 response. Dizon is concurrently CEO of BCDA and has been asked to help Chief Implementer Carlito Galvez, Jr. to implement the guidelines and protocols issued by the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases).