Company provides PPEs to hospitals and birthing clinics in the ZamPen Region
Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay / April 2020 – In active response to the government’s call for unity at the height of the pandemic – and to augment the need for proper protective equipment of provincial hospital staff – TVIRD mobilized the distribution of N95 face masks, face shields and surgical and examinations gloves to support COVID-19 frontliners, including LGUs, volunteers, medical workers, police and civilian volunteers in the Zamboanga Peninsula Region.
TVI Resource Development Philippines Inc. (TVIRD), whose Mineral Processing Sharing Agreement (MPSA) area is located in the joint boundaries of Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga del Norte provinces, recently donated several boxes of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to the Zamboanga Sibugay Provincial Hospital – which were received by hospital chief Dr. Sherwin Bastero.
“The contagion already showed serious consequences in the countries it has affected,” explained the doctor who believes that the COVID-19 pandemic will remain for a long time and that a vaccine is the only way to eradicate it. “However, the virus can be prevented and one way of doing it is to wear PPEs – and these PPEs from TVIRD are very helpful,” he said.
The handover was facilitated by no less than TVIRD Balabag Project Manager Hilario Gingo Jr., Site Physician Dr. Abdul Javar D. Esturco and Safety Supervisor Kurt Zion V. Torres.
Dr. Bastero thanked the company for the donation and committed that the province’s medical frontliners will benefit from it. PPEs were likewise delivered to the Wilfredo C. Palma Memorial Hospital in Diplahan – an annex of the Sibugay District Hospital – and were warmly received by its chief, Dr. Maredeth T. Degala.
One with frontliners
“TVIRD backs the government’s campaign against the disease. We are one with the frontliners – and providing them with protection and food is our way of sharing their load,” said Engr. Gingo. Aside from Sibugay, the company likewise distributed PPEs to several government hospitals and Rural Health Units (RHU) in neighboring Zamboanga Peninsula provinces.
A big batch of PPEs were delivered to Zamboanga del Sur Provincial Hospital in Pagadian City as well as to Bayog Municipality’s RHU while the sanitizing tents, PPEs and food were given to the LGU itself, to police and civilian volunteers manning the town’s five Quarantine Control Points.
Meanwhile in Zamboanga del Norte, TVIRD’s Canatuan Community Relations team also delivered protective equipment to Siocon District Hospital, which serves patients from its 26 barangays and nearby municipalities of Sirawai and Baliguian, which also received PPEs for its RHU and birthing clinic. Another batch was delivered to Siocon’s RHU, which also maintains a birthing clinic.
The donations were received by Doctors Norjan Ladja and Dr. Mary Therese Acevedo, and witnessed by Sangguniang Bayan (SB) Member Cynthia Lacpao, chair of the Committees on Agriculture, Women and Children and Health.
Communities served
In a subsequent Facebook post, SB Lacpao wrote: “Thank you TVIRD for the PPEs (face shields, face masks and gloves) distributed to Siocon District Hospital, RHU and different checkpoints of Siocon. Truly you are a Responsible Mining Company even if you are in your later part of Final Mine Rehabilitation Program.”
As the first company to be licensed under the Philippine Mining Law, TVIRD established its presence in the Zamboanga Peninsula some 25 years ago. Since then, it has joined the ranks of the country’s major mining companies in terms of both its business presence and corporate citizenship.
Aside from protective equipment, the company likewise distributed food and relief goods to help augment the income of local farmers and help its beneficiary communities. Some 25 barangays in the Zamboanga Peninsula and Agusan del Norte Province benefitted from TVIRD’s relief efforts.
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