Lucio Tan mobilizes P200M for war vs COVID-19

LTG’s COVID-19 response package as of April 14, 2020

The group of tycoon Lucio Tan has mobilized at least P200 million worth of internal resources to help medical front-liners, healthcare institutions and military personnel fight the war against the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

A source from the group estimated on Tuesday that the group’s COVID-19 response package had reached P200 million and still growing. “The flow of donation is continuing since the pandemic is far from over,” the source said.

In its official report on Tuesday, LT Group (LTG) said its COVID-19 response package ranged from providing supplies to medical health workers, to beefing up hospitals, to providing food and water for military personnel patrolling the borders during the ongoing lockdown of Luzon and other parts of the country.

LTG has so far donated a total of 472, 064 liters of ethyl alcohol under a disaster-relief program called “Help Flows.” The package included 20,000 liters of alcohol delivered to the Department of Health (DOH) for distribution to various government medical facilities.

To strengthen the capacity of hospitals to respond to COVID-19, the LTG has donated 40 ventilators, five polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machines, two ambulance units and one X-ray machine to different public hospitals all over the country.

It has also provided 59,583 pieces of personal protective equipment, 101 thermal thermometers and four thermal scanners.

LTG also teamed up with local Filipino fastfood chain Binalot to supply meals to doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers.

For the military personnel manning the different borders, group provided 135,860 liters of beverage (including water), 157,197 meal packs, snacks and coffee. The group also donated 47,601 pieces of canned goods.

LTG president Michael Tan said the group would continuously pool resources to further assist government during the COVID-19 crisis and “ensure that the different facets of the war are fully covered and constantly supported.”

“Help Flows” is supported by LT Group member firms Asia Brewery Inc., Eton Properties Philippines Inc., PMFTC Inc. (through Embrace CSR) program, Tanduay Distillers, Inc., Philippine National Bank and sister company Philippine Airlines.

Through the combined team from Asia Brewery and Tanduay Distillers, the group was able to conceptualize and produce the initial batch of ethyl alcohol early on during the quarantine.

As early as February 2020, LTG has been coordinating with authorities to provide emergency support and to assist in providing critical medical and health supplies to prepare for the war against COVID-19.