RECOGNIZING the need to help in overcoming the pandemic, Lopez-led renewable energy leader Energy Development Corporation (EDC) has donated an RNA extractor to Negros Occidental to further strengthen the province's resilience against coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
The equipment worth P3 million was turned over by EDC's Community Partners Marie Christine Jamiana and Jayvi Valenzuela to Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson in a simple rite held at the Provincial Capitol in Bacolod City Thursday, December 3, 2020.
Norreen Bautista, head of EDC's Corporate Social Responsibility team in Negros island, said they are one with Negros Occidental in its fight against Covid-19.
"Through the molecular laboratory in Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital (TLJPH) where this RNA extractor will be used and with the Negrenses' observance of all health and safety protocols, we believe that Bacolod City and the rest of the province will soon be able to win this war by flattening the curve even before the release of a Covid-19 vaccine," she added.
The initiative is part of EDC's series of Covid-19 community assistance to the Visayas Region, specifically in Negros Island, Ormoc City and Iloilo.
The firm, in a statement, said Negros Oriental's first molecular laboratory that EDC has funded just began operating last week while Ormoc City's first testing facility just got the signal to operate from the Department of Health this week.
The EDC has already provided over P6 million worth of aid to its partner-communities in Bago City and Murcia, Diocese of Bacolod, various local government units, and to its customers in Negros Occidental since the onset of the pandemic.
This, even if it has no operations in the area as part of its commitment to continuously support the province, it added.
Assistance provided included sacks of rice, food packs, bottles of alcohol and medical supplies that were distributed in three phases.
"As we continue to keep our employees safe and provide uninterrupted clean, renewable and reliable power to the country, we will keep on finding ways to uplift our stakeholders in Negros Island to help them beat the health and economic crisis," Bautista said.
She said this is part of the firm's commitment to go beyond sustainability that merely seeks to do less harm by being regenerative.
Bautista was referring to the EDC and the rest of the Lopez group's new mission of forging collaborative pathways for a decarbonized and regenerative future.
Their new chosen path calls for the entire conglomerate to uplift the state of everything they touch and everyone they partner with, the official added.
The EDC is the country's premier renewable energy company and one of the world's largest geothermal producers.
Its 222.5-megawatt geothermal facilities in Valencia, Negros Oriental have been providing clean, renewable, reliable power 24/7 to Negros Island and other parts of the Visayas for over 36 years now. (EPN)