“Project Ugnayan,” the fund-raising initiative led by top business groups in cooperation with the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation, has reached over 7.6 million people in vulnerable communities in Metro Manila.
“As we close, we wish to reiterate our wholehearted thanks to all our generous donors for making this project possible. By coming together in a ‘bayanihan’ spirit so quickly, we were able to create a program of this scale and importance. This unprecedented assembly of so many of the country’s corporations and business families coming to the assistance of the most vulnerable in our society illustrates and speaks of the heart and generosity of the business community. Our special thanks go to the 10 bishops in the dioceses in Metro Manila, Rizal, Bulacan, Cavite, and Laguna, as well as to Caritas Manila under the leadership of Fr. Anton Pascual, and the network of Parish priests, volunteers, and barangay captains who distributed the gift certificates door-to-door in the lowest-income communities in Greater Metro Manila. We appreciate the swiftness and efficiency of their work under very difficult conditions and over very long hours each day,” said Project Ugnayan lead Fernando Zobel de Ayala.
“We are grateful for this opportunity to be part of this business community effort to help people in a time of crisis. This is a movement we should nurture as we prepare to let people return to work and to re-start our economy in the post-quarantine period.” said PDRF co-chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala.
“The unity in diversity demonstrated by Project Ugnayan reveals the private sector’s serious commitment to help our country recover from the lost economic momentum because of the pandemic. We are proud to be part of this extraordinary collaboration of industries which will prove most valuable in getting the economy back on track,” PDRF co-chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan added.
Pascual, executive director of Caritas Manila, said the initiative earned praises from Archdiocese of Manila Apostolic Administrator Bishop Broderick Pabillo, San Pablo Bishop Buenaventura Famadico, and other prelates in the Suffragan Dioceses of Manila. The prelates thanked the businessmen and private organization who collectively help to make Project Ugnayan possible.
“The true spirit of Easter is about hope and has special significance in these difficult times. We thank all the generous benefactors of Project Ugnayan for this opportunity to fulfill a great mission of compassion for our vulnerable brothers and sisters. Your gifts have warmed their hearts and uplifted their spirits,” Pascual said.
Caritas Manila’s Project Damayan, the project’s main distributor of emergency cash through P1,000 supermarket gift certificates, has so far reached 1,070,854 families or 5,354,270 people.
It is on target to deliver gift certificates to 1,366,495 families or 6,832,475 people by today, Wednesday, April 15 – the original end-date of the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon.
