MANILA, Philippines — If there is one thing this crisis has magnified, it is the spirit of ‘bayanihan’ among Filipinos.
Thousands of personal protective equipment (PPEs), testing kits and food assistance were distributed by the Office of Sen. Grace Poe to hospitals and local government units to support frontliners since the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Poe’s office donated 2,500 PPE suits, 1,000 complete PPE sets, 2,000 pieces face shields, 23,975 pieces face masks, 15,700 pair of gloves, and 210 gallons of alcohol to frontliners in most critical areas. The senator’s team also handed out 1,170 test kits to communities most affected by COVID-19 in NCR and other areas.
Furthermore, some 2,700 50-kg. sacks of rice, thousands of food packs and other forms of assistance were given to the most vulnerable sectors, including transport groups in Metro Manila and different parts of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
Among those who donated is Bb. Pilipinas International 2019, Atty. Patch Magtanong. In a facebook post, Poe thanked the beauty queen saying the PPE donations were turned over to key hospitals including the Philippine Children’s Medical Center— which caters to children infected with #covid19.
With the support of generous donors, brave volunteers, friends, family, and especially her mother Ms. Susan Roces, Poe’s team was able to provide the much-needed assistance to communities under the ‘Panday Bayanihan’ initiative.
Panday Bayanihan is an NGO that focuses on relief efforts which is led by her son, and Chief of Staff, Brian Poe Llamanzares. Through Panday Bayanihan, Poe and her team are able extend assistance to vulnerable sectors in the most critical times.
Poe’s son, Brian personally led volunteers in the repacking of relief goods and the delivering of sacks of rice to different cities all over the country.
Llamanzares also turned over the PPE donations to key hospitals including the Philippine Children’s Medical Center in Q.C
Earlier, Senator Poe thanked all those who lent support to those most affected by the lockdown.
“Malaki ang pasasalamat natin sa ating medical frontliners sa pagsuong sa panganib para maging ligtas ang mas nakararami. Sa ating pagbabayanihan, babangon tayong muli.”
sen. grace poe
As of today Panday Bayanihan has just completed distributing hundreds of sacks of rice in Quezon and the Bicol Region to help those badly affected by the recent typhoon.
As consistently echoed globally, the indomitable Filipino spirit will always prevail.