Sharing in this trying time

The world’s wealthiest are participating in the global effort to combat the COVID-19 outbreak, donating billions of dollars to aid vaccine and disease research, provide needed medicines, masks, beds, spaces for the victims, and help  thousands upon thousands of men and women who lost their jobs from quarantine and lockdown policies of governments. Forbes’ list of these billionaires includes  Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg, Michael Dell, Jack Ma and Mark Zuckerberg.

In our shores, top Philippine firms have responded to President Duterte’s call for private participation in the efforts to help millions of Filipinos affected by COVID-19. They have unveiled billions of pesos in measures to help alleviate the plight of their employees forced to work from home and the thousands losing their jobs on account of the state-imposed lockdown of Luzon.

The first to respond to the president’s call are Ayala Corp. chair Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. chair Manuel V. Pangilinan. The two are the national capital region’s water concessionaires. Ayala Corp. controls Manila Water Company, while Pangilinan holds the majority shares of Maynilad Water Services Inc. 

 The two magnates’ quick response to Duterte’s call comes in the heels  of Duterte’s threat to close down  their water businesses  reportedly for unilateral contracts, even as they  experienced losses from the non-recognition of arbitral rulings in their favor.

My opinion is that the tycoons had decided to help thousands of workers in their companies’ employ tide over this difficult time even in advance of the president’s challenge.

The country’s oldest business house, the Ayala Group allocated  a P2.4-billion package to an emergency response package for its work force affected by the coronavirus disease.  

Company chair and CEO Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala said the amount will be primarily used to finance the wages of its work force. The response package of P2.4 billion consists of wages, bonuses, leave conversions and loan deferments for the extended work force of Ayala’s partner employers so they can continue to be paid for the duration of the quarantine period.  

Ayala Malls agreed to provide a rent-free period for malls that are not allowed to operate during the community quarantine from March 16 to April 14. This means around P1.4 billion for rent condonation, “to provide the merchants of these malls financial relief so they can in turn provide the much-needed financial support for their employees during this period,” Zobel de Ayala said.

Ayala-owned Globe Telecoms has earmarked P279 million for its retail store support staff and vendor partners while all other Ayala companies will reserve another P130 million in personnel-related financial support. These include retail workers, construction workers, service providers, security agencies and  employees of businesses  who are largely on a no work, no pay type of employment.  

For its own employees, Ayala will continue to provide salary continuance and finance support by giving them mid-year bonuses normally paid in April, starting on March 17.  

Ayala has also postponed or delayed employee loan payments due to the Ayala Multi-Purpose Cooperative, as well as extended  special financial assistance programs at subsidized rates.

“Ayala continues to ensure that those who are most directly affected by this emergency are taken care of through these financial assistance measures,” Zobel de Ayala said.

Tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan approved the early release of the 13th month pay for employees of PLDT, Smart and Manila Electric Co.

Pangilinan said that apart from continued pay and benefits, MPIC’s employees in PLDT Inc., Smart Communications and Manila Electric Co. will get their 13th month pay. Across the conglomerate, the month-long quarantine will not be charged to vacation and sick leaves of employees already working from their homes.

The SM Group is allocating P10 million to support government hospitals. Assistance has also been extended to PGH and RITM (Research Institute for Tropical Medicine) for their urgent needs and for improving their laboratory testing capacity.

SM has also allocated PPEs (or personal protective equipment) and medical supplies to the UP Medical Foundation to reach a wider network of hospitals. The UP Medical Foundation is also on the frontlines in developing COVID-19 detection kits.

SM Supermalls is also waiving rentals to all tenants nationwide from March 16 to April 14, 2020. “This is to offer tenants some relief during this trying time so that they can, in turn, lend more assistance to their employees during the period of community quarantine,” SM president Hans Sy said.

The Aboitiz group’s P900 million assistance package covers the early release of the March salary and the 13th or 14th month pay for the group’s over 11,000 team members across its strategic business units in power, banking and financial services, food, infrastructure and land.

*      *      *

Not everyone knows how the corona virus affects the body. An article by Science writer Amy Mckeever (www.bbc.com) tells how.

“For most patients, COVID-19 begins and ends in their lungs, because like the flu, coronaviruses are respiratory diseases.

“They spread typically when an infected person coughs or sneezes, spraying droplets that can transmit the virus to anyone in close contact. Coronaviruses also cause flu-like symptoms: Patients might start out with a fever and cough that progresses to pneumonia or worse.

“In the early days of an infection, the novel coronavirus rapidly invades human lung cells. Those lung cells come in two classes: ones that make mucus and ones with hair-like batons called cilia.

“Mucus, though gross when outside the body, helps protect lung tissue from pathogens and make sure your breathing organ doesn’t dry out. The cilia cells beat around the mucus, clearing out debris like pollen or viruses.’’

McKeever turns the mike over, so to speak, to Matthew B. Frieman, who studies highly pathogenic coronaviruses. Frieman explains that SARS loved to infect and kill cilia cells, which then sloughed off and filled patients’ airways with debris and fluids. He hypothesizes that the same is happening with the novel coronavirus. That’s because the earlies studies on COVID-19 have shown that many patients develop pneumonia in both lungs, accompanied by symptoms like shortness of breath.

“That’s when phase two and the immune system kicks in, says Frieman. “ Aroused by the presence of a viral invader, our bodies step up to fight the disease by flooding the lungs with immune cells to clear away the damage and repair the lung tissue.

“When working properly, this inflammatory process is tightly regulated and confined only to infected areas. But sometimes your immune system goes haywire and those cells kill anything in their way, including your healthy tissue.”

“So you get more damage instead of less from the immune response,” Frieman says. “Even more debris clogs up the lungs, and pneumonia worsens.

“During the third phase, lung damage continues to build – which can result in respiratory failure. Even if death doesn’t occur, some patients survive with permanent lung damage. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), SARS punched holes in the lungs, giving them a honeycomb-like appearance – and these lesions are present in those afflicted by novel coronavirus, too.

“These holes are likely created by the immune system’s hyperactive response, which creates scars that both protect and stiffen the lungs.

“When that occurs, patients often have to put on ventilators to assist their breathing. Meanwhile, inflammation makes the membranes between the air sacs and blood vessels more permeable, which can fill the lungs with fluid and affect their ability to oxygenate blood.”

“In severe cases, you basically flood your lungs and you can’t breathe,” Fierman says. “That’s how people are dying.”

*      *      *

Email: [email protected]