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Philippine Red Cross (PRC) Chairman Senator Richard Gordon hand a plaque
to GT Foundation president and Federal Land chairperson Alfred Ty (center) and
Metrobank Foundation president Aniceto Sobreña (left) to recognize the Php18
million donation of Metrobank and GT Capital Holdings to construct and equip
the country’s largest molecular laboratory at the former PRC Headquarters in
Port Area Manila on June 27.
On June 27, the country inaugurated its largest molecular laboratory capable of
detecting COVID-19 and other contagious diseases at the former Philippine Red
Cross (PRC) Headquarters in Port Area Manila. Through the initiatives of the Philippine Red Cross, the project was
partly funded by Metrobank and GT Capital Holdings through a PhP 18 million donation, coursed
through its corporate social responsibility arm Metrobank Foundation (MBFI) and Ty family’s GT Foundation (GTFI). The donation went for the construction and
equipping the facility with two automated extraction machines for testing of
samples. With additional contributions from the Australian Embassy and the
Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FFCCCII), the
laboratory has an overall capacity to test 14,000 samples a day.
The ceremonies were led by PRC chairman Senator
Richard Gordon, Department of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III,
Inter-Agency Task Force Deputy Implementer Undersecretary Vivencio Dizon, Australian
Ambassador Steven Robinson AO, GTFI president and Federal Land chairman Alfred
Ty, MBFI president Aniceto Sobrepeña and FFCCCII president Henry Bon Liong.
“We have been working hard in supporting various
initiatives to address and combat the effects of the pandemic since the start
of the lockdown. We advocate and support the conduct of “Test, Trace, and
Treat” or T3 in order to identify the various factors in the development and
mitigation of the spread of virus which could lead in flattening the curve,"
said Mr. Ty.
The
laboratory will also go a long way in ensuring early detection and efficient
treatment of other contagious and deadly diseases such as cancer, human
immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis, dengue, malaria, tuberculosis, Zika virus
among others.
The donation was part of the P220 million contribution by Metrobank Group and GT Capital Holdings to
fund and support efforts to combat the pandemic and help those in need. The
amount was allocated for the purchase of personal protective equipment (PPEs)
to benefit healthcare and security frontliners; support for the production of
RT-PRC testing kits through the UP National Institutes of Health; “Project Ugnayan” led by the Philippine Disaster
Resilience Foundation; distribution of meals and food packs to underprivileged
families; construction and equipping of molecular laboratories for the testing
of cases in partnership with the Department of Health (DOH), Philippine Red
Cross, and Ayala Group; and Go Negosyo’s Project ARK (Antibody Rapid test Kits)
of the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship Foundation. Just recently, Toyota Motor Philippines
Corporation donated 30 VIOS units for the mobility of healthcare frontliners of
DOH and local government hospitals.
Metrobank
is the country’s premier universal bank and has one of the largest domestic
networks with over 950 branches and over 2,300 automated teller machines (ATMs)
nationwide, and over 30 foreign branches, subsidiaries and representative
offices. For inquiries, please contact Corporate Communications Department at
8-857-5526, or Investor Relations Department at 8-857-9783 and
investor.relations@metrobank.com.ph. Or call the Metrobank 24/7 Customer Hotline
at 8-870-0700, or log on to www.metrobank.com.ph. For provincial areas, call
toll-free 1-800-1888-5775.
