By James A. Loyola  Diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corporation (SMC) is tapping its global network of suppliers to purchase P500 million worth of personal protective equipment (PPE) desperately needed by doctors, nurses and other health care workers. “It’s very crucial that we get more PPEs– protective masks, gloves, surgical gowns, among others – out there as fast as we can,” SMC president and COO Ramon S. Ang said. “We are hoping to fill the gap and continue supporting our government in whatever way we can. Our healthcare workers and government responders are risking their own lives to save ours but they are running out of equipment to protect themselves,” he added. Ang also urged domestic manufacturers to retool their facilities, if they can, to produce these equipment and ramp up production to secure the supply chain. SMC is currently mapping out available PPE capacity from its own suppliers even as it continues to look for domestic suppliers to help increase production of the protective equipment if they can as the battle against the virus continues. “We are leveraging our network of suppliers to assist government in addressing this shortage. But this maynot be enough. That’s why we are also calling on local suppliers, even the small ones, to come forward. We will help purchase your products and get it out in the market where it’s most needed,” Ang said. He requested for the government, though, to provide private sector with technical specifications and standards the protective items must meet. “And we need to streamline the certification and approval processes so that those who wish to respond can immediately provide the supplies our medical front liners need,” stressed Ang. “We are committed to growing this fund for PPEs and continue allocating resources to purchase much-needed protective items. We also invite other businesses to join us in this initiative and work together to support our selfless health care workers on the front lines of this crisis. We are all in this together,” he added. Meanwhile, SM Investments Corporation, through SM Foundation, is donating over P170 million for the purchase of PPEs, surpassing its initial allocation of P100 million. The amount will help ensure healthcare workers in hospitals nationwide are armored with PPEs – full protective suits (including for ICU use), face shields, gloves, N95 masks, surgical masks, goggles, and raincoats as requested by some hospitals as back-up alternatives. It will also help ensure that testing is made more widely available, by supporting and donating the local Manila Healthtek test kits developed by the UP-NIH team (upon DOH approval), providing the testing needs of RITM, and donating FDA-approved PCR kits sourced from Korea. SM is also providing ICU-grade ventilators to help hospitals manage patients with severe cases. Among the hospitals that received PPE donations as of March 27, 2020 are the designated COVID hospitals – University of the Philippines-PGH, Lung Center of the Philippines, and Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital. Other major government hospital recipients are: Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), National Kidney and Transplant Institute, San Lazaro Hospital, East Avenue Medical Center, Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center, Philippine Heart Center, National Children’s Hospital, and Rizal Medical Center. Other recipients are: Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital, Chinese General Hospital, University of the East Ramon Magsaysay (UERM) Memorial Medical Center, Manila Doctors Hospital, University of Sto. Tomas Hospital, Makati Medical Center, The Medical City, Ospital ng Muntinlupa, and more.