CEBU CITY, Philippies—The Aboitiz Group and its business units are ready to face head-on the challenges brought about by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak by adhering to an agile approach in 2020.
In an emailed press release, the Aboitiz Group said that they are carefully weighing opportunities and further embracing an agile strategy in the execution of their 2020 plans.
“Digital infrastructure investments in previous years and regular business continuity planning have allowed us to cope with the adverse impact of COVID-19,” said Sabin Aboitiz, Aboitiz Group president and chief executive officer.
Aboitiz assured stakeholders that the group is fully equipped and prepared to guarantee the continuity of all business transactions despite the uncertain future.
The group has also made adjustments in its work environment to protect its employees from the pandemic.
“We earmarked P900 million in assistance to help our team members cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. We did more online work, more work from home—p preventive measures are going to be the name of the game until a COVID-19 vaccine is developed,” Aboitiz noted. The amount comprises of the early release of end-March salary and the 13th or 14th-month pay.
Meanwhile, the Aboitiz Group has contributed P1.8 billion for its COVID-19 response efforts. This amount excludes various payments waived, reduced, extended, or restructured to help customers cope with the impact of COVID-19.
Also, one of its business units, the Aboitiz Power, has about P500 million worth of Energy Regulations 1-94 (ER 1-94) funds currently available that its host local government units could use for their pandemic response.
This is based on the Department of Energy’s new Department Circular No. 2020-04-00080 which allows communities that host power generation projects their Energy Regulations 1-94 (ER 1-94) revenue shares from these facilities to combat the effects of the pandemic.
For the most part, the Aboitiz Group said, it remained optimistic that it could weather potential headwinds. The group’s business units are engaged in vital industries such as energy, food, and financial sectors. / dcb