To protect the health and safety of its employees, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will allot P20 million from its 2020 internal income for the purchase of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines when available, MMDA Chairman Danilo Lim said on Wednesday (Aug. 12).
Lim said the agency will appropriate funds to ensure the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines through the help of the Philippine International Trading Corporation (PITC), an attached agency under the Department of Trade and Industry.
The MMDA is in coordination with PITC President and CEO Dave Almarinez, Lim said.
"Once finalized, the agency will execute a Memorandum of Agreement with PITC for the inclusion of MMDA in the procurement of the vaccines worth ₱20 million," the agency noted.
Per the agency, PITC has been mandated by Pres. Duterte to purchase COVID-19 vaccines from overseas.
“The vaccine will add up to our sustained efforts against COVID-19. Our personnel who are mostly frontliners can be fully secured of their health,” the MMDA chairman said.
According to Lim, each employee can also nominate one member of their family to receive vaccination as well. “Our employees' families are as important as they are to us. We want them to be protected, too.”
MMDA General Manager Jose Arturo Garcia, meanwhile, stressed the importance of getting vaccinated against the coronavirus.
“Vaccination can stop the spread of the virus. COVID-19 spreads from one person to another, but when a person is vaccinated, he is protected from the virus. COVID-19 vaccines can help boost our personnel’s immune system, thus decreasing their risk from getting the virus,” Garcia said.
The MMDA currently has over 8,000 employees, with almost 80 percent working in the field in various locations in the metropolis.