THE Ayala and MVP Groups, two of the country's biggest conglomerates that were recently at the receiving end of President Rodrigo Duterte’s angry rants, have announced measures to tide over their employees during the 30-day lockdown in Luzon due to Covid-19.
Manuel V. Pangilinan (MVP), chairman of the Metro Pacific Investments Corporation, and Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, Ayala Corporation chairman and CEO, made the announcement on their social media accounts Tuesday, March 17.
“Heeding the President’s call tonight for business - large or small - to rise to the challenge posed by Covid 19, the MVP Group is one with the President in coping with this virus. We are helping our employees by maintaining their salaries and benefits during the crisis. We have asked them to Work from Home,” Pangilinan said.
“We continue to serve our customers with the service they need at this time, including the provision of relevant financing, when required. In particular, our Hospitals Group are doing its best to cope with the rising traffic of PUIs and those confirmed positive with the virus, by sending our frontline health workers in needed areas, and importing face masks and PPEs,” he added.
Zobel earlier announced a P2.4-billion Covid-19 emergency response package to pay the wages, bonuses and leave conversions of Ayala Group employees as well as offset the revenues that would be lost due to loan deferments during the quarantine period.
“In these most trying times, those significantly affected by the COVID-19 situation are the thousands of workers that will be affected by the enhanced community quarantine because their places of work have been closed,” Zobel de Ayala stated.
“These include retail workers, construction workers, service providers, security agencies and employees of many similar businesses who are largely on a no-work-no-pay type of employment,” he added.
Duterte earlier ordered the filing of economic sabotage orders against the Ayala and MVP Groups over the alleged unfair provisions in their water contracts.
Ayala is behind Manila Water Company Inc. while MVP leads the consortium behind Maynilad Water Services Inc., the concessionaires that provide water supply in Metro Manila.
Pangilinan said they will be helping frontliners in the campaign to slow the spread of Covid-19 by donating an initial 4,000 liters of alcohol from Roxas Holdings to government hospitals and MVP Group hospitals Wednesday, March 18.
Pangilinan said they will be “raising more funds to help in the coming days”.
For the group’s employees, Pangilinan announced the following: