COTABATO CITY – The government’s humanitarian partnership with the business sector called “Project Ugnayan” has already served 4.9 Filipinos affected by community lockdowns meant to contain threats of coronavirus pandemic, according the state’s National Task Force on COVID-19.
In a statement on Saturday, NTF chief implementer Carlos G. Galvez, Jr. lauded the business sector, particularly the 56 commercial establishment and the families running them, for rekindling the “bayanihan” spirit with the government in providing relief aids to households bereft of livelihood activities in the campaign against COVID-19.
“We are very grateful to businesses and organizations which have taken part in ‘Project Ugnayan.’ (With their) efforts, (we) are helping our less fortunate brothers and sisters to cope with the effects of this COVID-19 pandemic,” Galvez said.
The 4.9 million relief aids recipients formed part of 15 million families envisioned for coverage under the partnership venture, according to Galvez, who is concurrent Presidential peace adviser.
He said the “Project Ugnayan” has already “raised P1.7-billion for 1.5 million low-income families affected by the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine.”
The joint venture was launched on March 19 as a “feeding program for indigent families in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal, and Laguna,” he said
It has five distribution channels, which include Caritas Manila, ABS-CBN, Jollibee, a collaborative project between the Asian Development Bank and government, and the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF) which serves as the project’s secretariat, he added.
“This is truly the Filipino bayanihan spirit in action, as the public and private sector are working hand-in-hand to help those who are most in need,” he said. (Ali G. Macabalang)