San Miguel Corporation is not done helping the country in battling the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
After producing and donating alcohol and nutribuns, SMC will set aside PHP 500-million to purchase personal protective equipment (PPEs) for frontline healthcare workers.
The conglomerate — which owns three PBA ball clubs in the San Miguel Beermen, the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, and the Magnolia Hotshots — is tapping its global network of suppliers to purchase such.
“It’s very crucial that we get more PPE – protective masks, gloves, surgical gowns, among others – out there as fast as we can.
“We are hoping to fill the gap and continue supporting our government in whatever way we can. Our health care workers and government responders are risking their own lives to save ours. but they are running out of equipment to protect themselves,” SMC president and COO Ramon S. Ang said.
Ang has also urged domestic manufacturers to retool their facilities, if they are able to do so, to produce this equipment and ramp up production to secure the supply chain.
SMC is currently mapping out available PPE capacity from its own suppliers even as it continues to look for domestic suppliers to help increase the production of the protective equipment if they can.
“We are leveraging our network of suppliers to assist the government in addressing this shortage. But this may not be enough. That’s why we are also calling on local suppliers, even the small ones, to come forward,” Ang said.
“We will help purchase your products and get it out in the market where it’s most needed.”
Just like many blue-chip companies, SMC has been allocating its resources to help in this battle against the pandemic.
Recently, Ginebra San Miguel Inc. retooled its liquor plants nationwide to produce rubbing alcohol to help frontliners fighting the outbreak.
SMC has started producing the nutribun-inspired bread that it continuously donates to poor communities severely affected by the quarantine. It has also donated over half a million kilos of rice, along with canned goods, biscuits, and coffee.
To date, the company has donated over 100,000 liters of ethyl alcohol to various frontliners in the national and local government, as well as public and private hospitals in Luzon. Food donations have, thus far, reached over PHP 100 million.
The company said it will continue to send out food donations in the coming days.
“We are committed to growing this fund for PPEs and continue allocating resources to purchase much-needed protective items. We also invite other businesses to join us in this initiative and work together to support our selfless health care workers on the front lines of this crisis,” Ang added.
“We are all in this together.”
