By Joseph Almer Pedrajas
The online donation drive of the Office of the Vice President to gather funds for the front liners in the fight against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has ended.
Vice President Leni Robredo made the announcement in her Facebook page and assured the public that she will release a report on the 49-day fund campaign that she launched over her Kaya Natin! radio program.
Vice President Leni Robredo
(OVP / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
“Ang dagsa ng tulong sa inisyatibong ito ay naging instrumento upang maipaabot natin ang suporta sa ating magigiting na front liners, sa pamamagitan ng personal protective equipment (PPE) sets at food and care packages,” she said.
(The surge of assistance to this initiative became an instrument to extend our support to the mighty front liners by giving them personal protective equipment sets and food and care packages)
Robredo, in a video message on Tuesday, said that after the end of the online donation drive, her office will launch other forms of assistance to families affected by the COVID-19 crisis.
“Ngayon, nagsisimula nang magka-hugis 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,” she said.
(Now, the processes in the procurement and distribution of the government are starting to firm up. We expect the outflow of resources that will be sourced by the administration from the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act. In view of this, we decided to end our online donation drive.)
In her last report on Wednesday, Robredo bared that her office was able to accumulate a P57 million fund, which covered the procurement of at least 130,000 PPE sets as well as
COVID-19 test kits, which were distributed to various hospitals in the country.
Robredo said, she did not expect to be able to provide assistance to different parts of the country, including Mindanao, as when they “first launched this on March 13...” they only targeted a “decent amount enough for us to be able to give PPEs to Metro Manila hospitals.”
She expressed her “heartfelt gratitude” to everyone who extended assistance.
“Tunay ngang walang imposible basta’t tayo ay magtutulungan (Nothing is impossible if we help each other),” she said.