MANDALUYONG CITY -- The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) received a P15M donation for its Covid-19 response operations and other services from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in a turnover ceremony at the BSP Complex in Manila on July 27, 2022. The donation, which comes at a time when the country is experiencing an increase in new Covid cases, is part of the partnership between the two institutions.

PRC Chairman and CEO Richard J. Gordon said that the BSP has been a partner of the PRC “for the last so many years.” The Philippines’ central bank, which had been a donor of the PRC pre-pandemic, was among the first to donate to PRC’s Covid-19 response. BSP’s donation supported the PRC’s ambulance services for Covid patients.

BSP Governor Felipe Medalla in his speech said that, “The pandemic has shown us that public health is at the core of a resilient society. It teaches us that public health is important to the economy.” He thanked the PRC, the Philippine General Hospital (PGH), the Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP), the Philippine Heart Center (PHC), and the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) for helping to bring BSP “closer to the people.”

The PRC has intensified its Covid-19 response operations by adding new negative pressure ambulance units, which transport patients with contagious diseases, such as Covid-19; increasing its Bakuna buses, which reach places as far as Sulu, Marawi, and Tawi-Tawi; and maintaining its swab and saliva sample collection sites and molecular laboratories.

In his speech on behalf of the agencies being supported by the BSP, Gordon underscored the collaboration between PRC and the public health agencies present in the turnover ceremony. He cited the medical tents deployed by the PRC to augment the Covid-19 bed capacity of the NKTI, the LCP, and 62 other hospitals, which served more than 65,000 patients. He also noted that the PRC ambulance and blood services partner with PGH and PHC in emergency medical services and in the provision of blood products to patients needing them. Gordon thanked BSP “for really making us more of a team together,” referring to PRC’s partnerships with the public medical facilities.

He added that the PRC has now tested more than 5.6 million swab and saliva samples for Covid-19 using RT-PCR and has administered more than 1.2 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines. In the first quarter of 2021, which saw a surge in Covid cases, the PRC partnered with local governments in the capital region, Metro Manila, to set up isolation facilities in schools, which served more than 5,000 patients.

He also said that he could vouch on behalf of the government medical facilities represented, “which have done so well in the past, and continue to do well, continue to save lives” that they are also partners of the Red Cross. “Central Bank is a very important partner. We provide the blood, we provide the ambulances, and they provide the medical expertise,” Gordon elaborated. (Philippine Red Cross)