By Raymund Antonio
Vice President and opposition leader Leni Robredo said on Tuesday that the ongoing donation drive to buy personal protective equipment and food packs for frontliners will end on April 30.
After providing protective gear to health workers and medical frontliners in Metro Manila and Luzon provinces, the office of Vice President Leni Robredo has dispatched similar equipment to hospitals in Visayas and Mindanao. (OVP / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
In a videotaped message she uploaded on her Facebook page, Robredo announced this so her office can provide other forms of assistance to families affected by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
“Ngayon, nagsisimula nang magkahugis ang proseso ng procurement at pag-distribute ng pamahalaan. Inaasahan na rin ang malaking halagang makukuha ng administrasyon mula sa Bayanihan to Heal as One Act. Dahil dito, nagpasya tayong taningan ang ating online donation drive (Now, the process in the procurement and distribution of the government is starting to shape up. We can count on the huge budget that the administration will get from the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act. Because of this, we decided to end our online donation drive),” she said.
In total, the Office of the Vice President (OVP) has so far delivered about 100,000 PPE sets and 7,764 food and care packages to 552 hospitals nationwide to aid the needs of frontliners.
Apart from this, Robredo said that 12 communities also received 3,153 relief packs from her office.
These were funded through the P57.23 million worth of cash collections raised by the OVP and its private partner, Kaya Natin! Movement.
“Matapos ang April 30, maglalabas tayo ng isang malinaw, detalyado, at kumpletong talaan upang maibahagi sa publiko (After April 30, we will release a clear, detailed, and complete list for the public),” she said.
On her weekly radio show, Robredo said they intend to go “full force” in providing food assistance to needy communities under the enhanced community quarantine.
The vice president noted the current need for the PPEs is not that high as the Department of Health (DOH) and more private groups have been providing PPEs so they will focus their attention on the distribution of food packs.