J. Amado Araneta Foundation (JAAF), the social development arm of Araneta City, has donated COVID-19 rRT-PCR test kits to the Quezon City Government last June 30. Present during the test kits turnover at the Philippine Genome Center are JAAF Executive Director Diane Romero, Dr. Mary Rochelle Paulino of the Quezon City Health Department, and Marissa Ocampo RN of The Manila HealthTek Inc.
These test kits, which are expected to test 500 samples at the Quezon City General Hospital, were developed by scientists from the University of the Philippines-National Institute of Health (UP-NIH), with the assistance of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) through the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD).
This donation is in fulfillment of Araneta City’s pledge last March 10 to assist the local government in the mitigation and containment of the pandemic. In the pledge, Mr. Antonio T. Mardo, Araneta City Senior Vice President for Operations, relayed: “We value the health and safety of the entire community. In these health-challenging times, being responsive, aside from being prepared, is highly important. We are talking about saving lives here, and donation of test kits is the least Araneta City can do to help. This is our way of showing our cooperation to the government in this time of crisis”.
Through this donation, JAAF and Araneta City show their commitment in fighting against the COVID-19, and in fostering a spirit of public-private cooperation to the immediate resolution of this health crisis.