Energy Development Corporation (EDC) extended assistance to a fourth-class municipality in the province of Samar affected by the crisis caused by COVID-19.
EDC’s Leyte corporate social responsibility (CSR) head Erwin Magallanes said the company, led by its crisis management and CSR teams, provided assistance to the municipality of Tarangnan, which was identified by the Department of Health as the most affected by the COVID-19 outbreak in Eastern Visayas, with nine active cases and 14 recoveries as of May 26, 2020.
“EDC has decided to extend help to the municipality even if the location is very far from our site in Ormoc City and Kananga town. Tarangnan has been put on lockdown or enhanced community quarantine since April 29, 2020 to prevent the local transmission of the virus in the community. Given its minimal resources as a fourth-class municipality, the town mayor has been requesting and accepting all kinds of help to aid his constituents,” Magallanes said.
He noted that an estimated 500 families benefited from nearly P200,000 worth of donations to the municipality which included some 50 sacks of rice, canned goods and bottled water, while 50 frontline workers benefited from the personal protective equipment donations such as N95 and surgical masks and Tyvek suits.
“Since non-pharmaceutical measures like isolation and tightened security on borders are imposed on the town to prevent the further spread of the virus, we have asked the Philippine Army to deliver and distribute the assistance to Tarangnan on our behalf. We were informed by the Army that Tarangnan mayor Arnel Tan and the residents of the municipality were very thankful for the donation of EDC,” Magallanes said.
