By THEPHILBIZNEWS STAFF
As committed, San Miguel Corporation (SMC) started to turn over its donation of Covid-19 testing booths starting with the Cities of Mandaluyong, Pasig, and Manila to ensure that the needed testing capacities of all 17 Metro Manila local government units are addressed.
To date, there are a total of 24 testing booths were turned over to Mandaluyong Mayor Carmelita Abalos, Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto, and Manila Mayor Isko Moreno.
Further delivery of testing booths for other LGUs like Quezon City, Caloocan, Malabon, Las Pinas, Paranaque, Muntinlupa, Makati, Navotas, San Juan, Taguig, Marikina, Valenzuela, Pasay, and Pateros will resume this coming week.
With this generosity from San Miguel Corporation, DOH noted that the donation effectively doubled the country’s testing capacity.
Apart from the testing booths, SMC is also donating P3 million worth of PCR tests to each of the 17 LGUs, equivalent to 34,000 tests. They are also set to turn over an additional three sets of RT-PCR testing machines and automated RNA machines to key government hospitals.
In the statement sent to THEPHILBIZNEWS, SMC president Ramon S. Ang said, “We are fully committed to helping all our Metro Manila LGUs increase their Covid-19 testing capabilities, in support of the national government’s expanded testing goals.”
“With these donations, we hope to help boost testing particularly in our less-fortunate communities where many underprivileged families are extra vulnerable, due to their living conditions,” he added.
Ang underscored the importance of carrying out expanded testing and making it accessible to more people. To achieve this, he said that testing should be made free for poor families.
“We need to be able to find a way to make testing accessible to all. Everyone should have equal access, not just those who have the means,” Ang said.
At the same time, he batted for the regulation of the price of testing, to make it affordable for regular Filipinos and small companies that have to test their employees before returning to work. Along this line, SMC is working with the local government of its home city of Mandaluyong to ensure that the cost to test in the city remains affordable.
Apart from its donations to the LGUs, SMC had earlier donated five sets of the same testing machines to the Department of Health (DoH) and testing kits which can administer up to 20,000 tests.