The COVID-19 pandemic continues to create a public health and economic crisis of unprecedented scale globally, and AC Energy, together with the Ayala Group, has launched a series of social investment and support initiatives to mitigate the impact of the community quarantine, especially for the daily wage earners and the no-work-no-pay workforce or those who belong to the informal economy.

To aid its response to the global crisis, AC Energy has raised over P64 million cascaded to electricity, health and food relief, medical supplies, cash donations, and employee wages and emergency funds, with the priority to keep their people, communities and customers safe.

For its own employees, as with the whole Ayala Group, AC Energy continues to provide salary continuance and financial support where possible. It has also earmarked P8 million for contractual employees and as emergency response.

“The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be felt globally, and the crisis is set to hit the most vulnerable the hardest,” said AC Energy President and CEO Eric Francia. “As AC Energy  continues to ensure uninterrupted access to power, we will also continue to draw on our strengths, and work on providing aid to our people and to as many Filipinos as possible.”

 

Powering WTC and other COVID Assistance Centers

AC Energy likewise scaled up its efforts to help healthcare frontliners and augment the capacity challenges in hospitals.

The World Trade Center in Pasay City was recently converted into a designated quarantine facility called the “WTC We Heal as One Center”. Just last Sunday, April 26, more than 300 OFWs from Maldives arrived at the center for a 14-day mandatory quarantine.

The Ayala Group oversaw the project, together the ICCP Group and Manila Exhibition Center, Inc. (MEC), with support from the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) and the national government.

For its continued operations, AC Energy committed to cover 50% of the facility’s electricity cost until May 31, 2020, and has donated critical supplies such as bed frames, mattresses, pillows and other furnishings, for a total package of approximately P24 million. Partner donor Manila Electric Co. has pledged to cover the other half of the electricity cost.

Most recently, AC Energy partnered with the La Salle group as they launched their Safe Shelter project and opened their doors to provide a temporary home for COVID-19 frontliners. AC Energy will be covering the electricity cost of the designated facilities, La Salle Greenhills, DLSU-College of St. Benilde, and the De La Salle University until April 25, and has also donated needed supplies such as matteresses and pillows.

 

Bringing medical aid to vulnerable groups

AC Energy’s subsidiary, South Luzon Thermal Energy Corp, donated funds to support the UP PGH AO project to develop venti masks, a breakthrough mask that aims to lower the risk of COVID-19 patients to be intubated and sedated, thereby allowing patients to remain conscious and fight for life. Production for phase two has already been earmarked.

AC Energy likewise supported the conversion of Qualimed in Nuvali into a COVID-19 dedicated hospital and the HOPE project in Quezon City, a 175-bed capacity quarantine center. These projects are pegged at P7 million.

 

Supporting our communities

AC Energy and the Ayala Group recently took part in Project Ugnayan, a fund-raising initiative together with more than 30 conglomerates and in partnership with the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation and Caritas Manila, to raise funds in support of families that have been economically displaced by the ongoing enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila.

AC Energy raised over P6 million in contribution to the project, and another P6 million for food reserve. In true Bayanihan spirit, the business groups came together and raised a total of P1.5 billion to assist the most vulnerable in society.

For its host communities and their frontliners, AC Energy, through its subsidiaries namely, North Luzon Renewables,  NorthWind, CIP II Power Corp and Bulacan Power, has allotted P13 million and mobilized local teams to donate cash and medical supplies like face masks, alcohol, and 3D filaments, as well as food supplies like local produce, canned goods and food packs. The company has donated over 2,000 sacks of rice as aid to the locals of Norzagaray, Bulacan, Bacnotan, La Union, and Bangui and Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte.

“We recognize the unprecedented crisis that our country is facing right now, and these programs are a testament of what we can achieve if we all work together to aid the most vulnerable,” said Francia. “As we continue to lend support to help our country recover, we reinforce our strong commitment to invest in much needed energy investments in the Philippines as  access to stable power is critical now more than ever.”