Month: June 2020

Good afternoon everyone. Thank you for taking the time to join us today—and I hope that you all are keeping safe and healthy during these challenging times. I am delighted to welcome you to our second Ayala Enterprise Circle virtual forum, focusing on Health and Wellness for SMEs in the Time of COVID-19.

For those joining us for the first time, let me just provide a quick background on the Ayala Enterprise Circle. The AEC is the Ayala Group’s platform to support and engage our country’s Small and Medium Enterprises. SMEs are critical components of the economy, comprising 99.5% of the country’s registered businesses, and accounting for 63% of employment and 35% of the national GDP. Within the Ayala Group, 250,000 SMEs are vital economic partners of our different companies. We thank all our SME partners for your continued trust and support.

Through the AEC, we aim to provide access to useful information, tools, and partners to enable SMEs to scale and succeed through various exclusive programs. This webinar is part and parcel of a larger set of activities within the AEC, which includes industry expert mentorship, online classes and masterclass training, and business-matching and co-marketing opportunities. We will provide further information on these in the next few months. We hope that you will join us as members of this exclusive network.

The Ayala Enterprise Circle is just one component of the Ayala Group’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Early in the crisis, we felt that it was important to find ways where we can meaningfully help the country. As we were thinking about our response as a group of companies, we made sure that the principles of Putting People First and Public-Private Partnerships will be central to our decision-making.

When the Enhanced Community Quarantine was announced back in March, our immediate priority was the welfare of the stakeholders that we touch daily. This includes our employees, our suppliers and partners—which includes all of you—and the broader community. We continue to develop programs to help in the economic and health needs of our stakeholders during the current pandemic, and in the near future, when the world finally recovers from this emergency.

Despite the pains that COVID-19 has caused, it opened an opportunity for different sectors to come together and work for a common purpose. Over the last three months, it was very encouraging to see both the government and private sector working this close together on several initiatives.

Out of this crisis, we saw a tremendous opportunity to help upgrade the country’s facilities and capabilities. Health and Wellness is one area where there is strong Public-Private Partnership. This was done through Task Force T3, which counts close to 40 private organizations working hand-in-hand with government on the COVID-19 response effort. 

For Ayala, our teams at our healthcare company, AC Health, quickly mobilized and developed a Triage, Testing, Treatment, and Tracking framework to assist both our employees and the broader public. Let me just quickly go through some components of the framework:

On patient screening, which we call triage, we continued to operate over 75 of our FamilyDOC and Healthway clinics to provide extended frontline services, and non-COVID-related treatments to patients. As of the second week of June, we have screened and referred to appropriate facilities over 15,000 suspected cases of COVID-19. In addition to our physical clinics, we also recently launched HealthNow, a free web-based platform that connects patients and doctors for teleconsultation services.

On Testing, the Ayala Group is part of a consortium of several companies that is building 7 laboratories capable of the gold standard RT-PCR tests for COVID-19. This will add approximately 5,500 tests per day to our national testing capacity. Two of these facilities have already been inaugurated: a laboratory in the Tropical Disease Foundation in Makati and QualiMed Sta. Rosa in Nuvali. We have also completed the installation of the RT-PCR machines in University of Cebu Medical Center and Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City. For interested parties, AC Health is offering rapid testing services to companies and individuals. Our friends from AC Health will be able to provide more information on this service later in our program.

On Treatment, one key initiative is the upgrading of QualiMed Sta. Rosa in Nuvali into a COVID-19 facility. As mentioned, we have already completed a COVID-19 testing laboratory and triage area. This is one piece of a larger effort to improve the hospital’s capabilities, which includes the construction of quarantine areas, expansion of ICU facilities, increase in the number of beds for COVID-19 patients, and recruitment of a top-notch team of well-trained, fully-equipped, and protected medical professionals.

Aside from this, together with the Department of Public Works, the ICCP Group, and other partners, Ayala led in the conversion of the World Trade Center into a 502-bed quarantine facility, which is the biggest in the country and was completed in just seven days. We also constructed swabbing booths for the testing requirements of our returning OFWs.

These are just some of the many initiatives where the public and private sectors are working together for a strong and effective response to COVID-19. This crisis has highlighted the opportunity to upgrade our country’s healthcare capacity. COVID-19 has shown us how important it is to stay at the forefront of the country’s needs, and we remain committed to helping improve the country’s healthcare system moving forward.

However, let us continue to keep in mind that the battle against the virus is far from over and there will continue to be challenges, given the unprecedented scale and nature of this crisis. Nevertheless, with quarantine restrictions relaxing and parts of the economy steadily restarting, I encourage everyone to continue to remain vigilant. Most importantly, I encourage everyone to continue placing the health and safety of our people and employees at the top of our priorities. They are, after all, the main reason why our businesses exist. We hope that this afternoon’s dialogue will provide valuable insights and guidance on how your businesses can best navigate today’s challenging times.  

We have a full agenda today, so let me not take any longer and quickly introduce our guests for today.

We are privileged to have Dr. Manuel M. Dayrit, our former Health Secretary, who was the lead person of government during the SARS outbreak back in 2003. He will be sharing with us his views on the COVID-19 crisis from a public health perspective, as well as present some thoughts on the various health challenges that are affecting Small and Medium Enterprises.

We also have Paolo Borromeo, President and CEO of AC Health, who will talk on various healthcare access options for SMEs as we transition out of strict quarantine and as we recover from the pandemic.  He will also be joined by members of our leadership team from Generika Drugstore, our FamilyDOC and Healthway clinics, and our Health Technologies company, Vigos to respond to your specific questions on healthcare access.

Once again, thank you for joining us this afternoon. I look forward to an enlightening and productive session. I wish you all continued strength of health and spirit in these difficult times.

The Ayala Group, led by Ayala Healthcare Holdings, Inc (AC Health), has partnered with the Aboitiz Foundation, ABS-CBN Corporation, Alfonso Yuchengco Foundation, Gokongwei Brothers Foundation, and Metrobank Foundation to build 4 Biosafety Level 2 modular laboratories in Qualimed hospitals across the country. This consortium was formed as part of the Ayala Group’s initiative to contribute an additional capacity of 5,500 confirmatory RT-PCR tests per day in support of the Department of Health’s and the Inter-agency Task Force’s Project T3 (Test, Trace, Treat). Project T3 aims to expand national testing capacity to 50,000 tests per day by end-June.

“Increasing the country’s confirmatory testing capacity is not easy. We are grateful to have been able to form a consortium of friends from the private sector who are just as committed to battling this pandemic. The challenges we are all facing highlights the importance of private sector working in collaboration with the government to ensure our country’s recovery,” said Fernando Zobel de Ayala, Chairman of the Board of AC Health.

The Memorandum of Agreement between the different companies was accomplished on June 16, 2020. The donations will go towards the construction of facilities and the purchase of equipment for the new laboratories to be built under the Qualimed Health Network, led by its President and CEO, Dr. Edwin Mercado.

The members of the consortium have addressed COVID-19 through various initiatives.

The Aboitiz Group has so far contributed over P1.85 billion to COVID-19 response initiatives including monetary and in-kind (e.g. PPEs, food, and support equipment) donations. With its nationwide presence, Aboitiz has also been proactively assisting communities in Visayas and Mindanao through its various business units operating in the area.

“The Aboitiz Foundation is looking forward to partnering with AC Health and other private sector partners for this initiative. Our country needs to ramp up its confirmatory testing capacity, especially for our vulnerable communities, and we will do all that we can to respond to that need,” Sabin M. Aboitiz, Aboitiz Group President and Chief Executive Officer said.

For its part, ABS-CBN launched the “Ligtas Pilipinas sa COVID-19” information campaign. The network and the ABS-CBN Foundation also launched “Pantawid ng Pag-ibig,” a fundraising campaign, which has provided food and basic necessities to over 750,000 families with the help of private companies and local government units.

“ABS-CBN will continue to serve the Filipino people and work with our partners to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Apart from our other initiatives, we hope this donation will reach critical areas that require much-needed access to confirmatory testing,” Carlo L. Katigbak, President and CEO of ABS-CBN Corporation added.

Meanwhile, the Alfonso Yuchengco Foundation (AYF) continues its financial and non-monetary aid for frontliners and vulnerable communities. This includes contributions to the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation to support Project Ugnayan and financial support to the Serosurveillance Campaign of the National Action Plan Against COVID-19.

“The AY Foundation is one with the government and the private sector in addressing the gaps in our country’s response to the pandemic. We are strong advocates of testing and hope that this initiative will strengthen the government’s efforts to control the spread of COVID-19,” said Mrs. Helen Y. Dee, AY Foundation Chairperson.

Similarly, the Gokongwei Brothers Foundation (GBF) created a P100 million COVID-19 relief fund dedicated to helping frontliners and government efforts to contain the virus. GBF has provided ventilators, COVID testing equipment, RT-PCR test kits, PPE sets, and food packs and vouchers to hospitals, LGUs, and other vulnerable sectors.

“We at the Gokongwei Brothers Foundation continue to mobilize efforts for COVID-19. From our frontliner relief efforts to our contributions to Project Ugnayan, we believe that this partnership is a great addition to the work we are doing. Through this, we aim to support the government’s request to help expand testing capacity in the country. We definitely see this as a priority,” Lisa Y. Gokongwei-Cheng, General Manager of the Gokongwei Brothers Foundation emphasized.

As for the Metrobank Foundation, this partnership is part of the P200 million pledge by Metrobank and GT Capital Holdings Group through MBFI and GT Foundation, to fund and support efforts for COVID-19 such as the purchase of PPEs for frontliners, production of RT-PCR test kits, implementation of Rapid Testing in communities, distribution of meals, and construction and equipping of labs for testing.

“This health crisis necessitates a collective response. The Metrobank Foundation remains an ally of the government, private sector, and Filipino communities in the ongoing fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope that this partnership will contribute to arresting the spread of the virus through increased testing capacity,” Aniceto M. Sobrepeña, President of Metrobank Foundation, Inc added.

The laboratories will be located in hospitals of the Qualimed Health Network in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, Tanauan, Batangas, and Iloilo City, Iloilo. Each lab, equipped with 1 automated RNA extractor and 2 RT-PCR machines, will have the capacity to perform 1,000 RT-PCR tests/day. The innovative and efficient modular set-up, designed and built by Makati Development Corporation (MDC), will accelerate construction timelines for the laboratories. The laboratories are expected to be accredited and operational by July 2020.

Previously, AC Health announced its partnership with the Tropical Disease Foundation in Makati, the University of Cebu Hospital in Mandaue City, Cebu, and the Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao to upgrade their laboratory facilities for COVID-19 testing.

Davao City, Philippines – June 4, 2020. Davao City is set to increase its daily testing capacity for COVID-19 by 1,000 tests with the help of medical equipment being donated to the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) today.

An automated RNA Extraction machine and 2 RT-PCR machines and their accessories were received by officials of the SPMC Davao in a handover ceremony this morning led by Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte–Carpio. This donation will help boost Davao City’s COVID-19 testing capacity by a maximum of 1,000 tests per day.

“The people of Davao City and the entire Mindanao are truly grateful for this generous assistance from Ayala Foundation. Know that this donation will help us with our offense. Noon, we were scrambling to defend our areas, but now we are on the offensive against COVID-19 and these donations will greatly help us in our work,” said Duterte–Carpio.

The donation is an expression of the Ayala group’s continuing commitment to helping contain the COVID-19 pandemic, as it participates in Task Force T3 (Test, Trace, and Treat) convened by the Inter-Agency Task Force–National Task Force (IATF-NTF) and the Department of Health (DOH).

The SPMC donation is one of other similar initiatives that seek to capacitate existing testing facilities and build testing laboratories in different parts of the country. Ayala, through Ayala Land and AC Health, are constructing testing labs in Bulacan, Batangas, Laguna, and Iloilo.

Together, the Ayala group’s various contributions to Project T3 will boost the country’s daily testing capacity by 5,500. At present, the country conducts about 34,000 tests daily.

“We welcome the testing laboratories from Ayala, as these will be a big help to our efforts to stamp out COVID-19 in the country, and improve the country’s health situation in general,” said Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr., chief implementer of the IATF National Action Plan Against COVID-19.

“We recognize that the private sector plays an important role in our shared fight against COVID-19, and Ayala’s donation of testing equipment and laboratories are a welcome contribution,” said Vince Dizon, deputy chief implementer of the IATF  National Action Plan Against COVID-19.

Since the start of the pandemic, the Ayala group has mobilized resources in support of national efforts through the provision of equipment and protective gear for medical and community front-liners, as well as food and other basic necessities for families in different communities nationwide.

Together with partners from the business community, PDRF and Caritas Manila, Ayala took an active part in Project Ugnayan, which provided grocery vouchers for nearly 7 million individuals or 1.5 million families in Greater Manila Area’s poor communities.

Ayala also helped convert the World Trade Center into the 500-bed We Heal As One Center for COVID-19 patients. The group also helped build the testing facilities of Philippine Red Cross.

Through Ayala Foundation, the Ayala group’s 50,000-plus employees initiated Project Pananagutan, which supports “no work, no pay” employees of partner companies, front-line health workers in need of protective personal equipment, and families in need of food and other basic needs.

The Ayala group has also been working closely with the SPMC in the past few years. In 2018, Ayala donated laser eye equipment for the treatment of cancer patients at the SPMC Cancer Institute. Last December, the Ayala group officially turned over the newly refurbished House of Hope Halfway House, where pediatric patients of the SPMC Cancer Institute can stay with their families or caregivers, while they are undergoing treatment.

“The people of Davao City and the entire Mindanao are truly grateful for this generous assistance from Ayala Foundation. Know that this donation will help us with our offense. Noon, we were scrambling to defend our areas, but now we are on the offensive against COVID-19 and these donations will greatly help us in our work,” said Davao City Mayor, Sara Duterte – Carpio who formally accepted the medical equipment donation of the Ayala group to Southern Philippines Medical Center to boost the city’s daily testing capacity by 1,000 per day.  In photo – upper left-right: Saiya Mohammad-Facility Manager of Manila Water, Kennedy Kapulong-General Manager of Seda Abreeza, Art Gerald Perez-Area Business Director for BPI, Janice Parreño- Mindanao Area Head of Ayala Malls.  Bottom left-right: Dr. Annabelle Yumang- DOH Redional Director, DOH USec. Abdullah Dumama Jr., Dr. Leopoldo Vega- Medical Director of SPMC, Mayor Sara Duterte, James Lopez- Globe External Affairs for Mindanao, DOH ASec. Roy Ferrer

The Ayala Group, led by its healthcare unit, Ayala Healthcare Holdings, Inc. (AC Health), will build 4 BSL-2 laboratories and help capacitate 3 existing laboratories in Makati, Cebu, and Davao, for an additional capacity of 5,500 confirmatory RT-PCR tests per day for the country. This is part of the group’s contribution to the Department of Health and the Inter-agency Task Force’s Project T3 (Test, Trace, Treat), that aims to expand the national confirmatory testing capacity to 50,000 tests per day by June.

“At the Ayala Group, we are big believers in testing and are one with the government in their efforts to expand our country’s capacity. By constructing new laboratories and expanding capacity for existing ones, we will increase access to confirmatory RT-PCR testing for COVID-19 in many critical areas,” Ayala Corporation President and COO Fernando Zobel de Ayala said.

In the past week, the AC Health group, led by Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala and Fernando Zobel de Ayala, welcomed Gen. Carlito Galvez, Jr., Chief Implementer, and Sec. Vince Dizon, Deputy Chief Implementer of the IATF’s National Action Plan Against COVID-19, to the laboratories at the Tropical Disease Foundation and Qualimed Sta. Rosa for a tour of the facilities that the Ayala Group has upgraded and built.

“These additional testing laboratories will provide a major boost to the country’s health system, particularly in scaling up our capacity to conduct targeted COVID-19 testing, as we gradually open up our economy,” Gen. Carlito Galvez, Jr. said.

“The DOH and the IATF are grateful to see our private sector partners, such as the Ayala Group, quickly and actively step up to this challenge and contribute to expanding testing capacity in the country. These are important wins for all of us, and we look forward to our continued partnership as we face the long-road ahead in the battle against COVID-19,” Sec. Vince Dizon added.

AC Health partnered with the Qualimed Health Network, led by its President and CEO, Dr. Edwin Mercado, to build 4 modular-type BSL-2 laboratories that will be located in their hospitals at Sta. Rosa, Laguna, Tanauan, Batangas, San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan, and Iloilo City, Iloilo. This innovative and efficient modular set-up, designed and built by Makati Development Corporation (MDC), will accelerate construction timelines for other laboratories.

Currently, the laboratory in Qualimed Sta. Rosa is on Level 3 of the DOH-RITM’s accreditation process and aims to be accredited by June 8. AC Health has been working closely with the Department of Health to ensure timely accreditation, and the rest of the laboratories of the Qualimed network target to be accredited and operational by end-June.

The modular BSL-2 laboratories, which follow the recommended design by the DOH, RITM, and WHO, are equipped with fully-automated RNA extraction and RT-PCR systems and can process about 1,000 confirmatory RT-PCR tests per day. The laboratory will be supervised by 2 Board-certified pathologists with training in molecular diagnostics.

AC Health and the Bloomberry Cultural Foundation Inc. (BCFI) have also partnered with the Tropical Disease Foundation (TDF) to establish TDF’s capability to conduct confirmatory RT-PCR tests for COVID-19. TDF is an existing Biosafety Level 2+ lab, and a specialty laboratory in tuberculosis research. AC Health and BCFI provided the facility with RT-PCR machines and equipment such as PCR and RNA extraction kits, biological safety cabinets, and a laboratory-grade refrigerator, among others.

On May 28, TDF was officially accredited by the DOH and can now process about 200 confirmatory RTPCR tests per day.

In the Visayas region, AC Health has set out to partner with the University of Cebu Medical Center in Mandaue City, one of the leading private hospitals in Cebu, to expand their capacity by 250 tests per day. In the Mindanao region, AC Health and the Ayala Foundation will donate RT-PCR machines to the Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City to increase their capacity by 1,000 confirmatory RT-PCR tests daily.

Apart from the Ayala Group, this network of laboratories has been made possible through the generous donation of a consortium of private sector companies.

“Increasing the country’s confirmatory testing capacity is not an easy feat, but AC Health, together with all of our partners, remain committed to fill these gaps in our healthcare system. I would like to thank all of our partners in both the public and private sector who continue to work towards the same goal of fighting COVID-19 by improving the testing capabilities of the entire country,” AC Health President and CEO Paolo Borromeo added.