Aboitiz Group’s COVID-19 Response

At the onset of the pandemic in December 2019, the Aboitiz Group already started to assess its potential impacts and risks to our business. We have first thought of the welfare of our 40,000 team members located across 11 countries, who are truly the lifeblood of our organization. In February 2020, a COVID-19 Technical Working Group was formed to monitor how the pandemic is progressing and to cascade information on proper precautionary measures.

In March 2020, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared a state of public emergency following confirmed local cases and transmission of COVID-19. A lockdown in Metro Manila was imposed on March 15, forcing residents to undergo community quarantine.

Through a group-wide virtual conference, Aboitiz Group President and CEO Sabin Aboitiz announced that team members must render work from home. Our early investments in future-proofing Aboitiz have given us a huge advantage in seamlessly transitioning from a physical work set-up to a digital workforce and ensuring all the proper channels and support are in place. Communications, stakeholder management, product sales, financial services, and employee learning were all delivered through online platforms.

While we’ve put trust in the hands of the government to lead us in finding the proper solutions, it is also imperative for businesses to do their part in helping alleviate the situation.

To ensure the financial security of team members, salaries and bonuses were released early. A select number of essential team members continue to work in their respective areas to ensure delivery of highly-needed basic services, such as power, banking, and food. To ensure their safety, we provided ample protective resources and basic needs such as testing (rapid tests, RT-PCR), food, clothing, and temporary shelter. Accessible health services are also made available to all our facilities nationwide.

Despite the pandemic, we continue to deliver our brand promise of advancing business and communities. Making sure that we maintain a strong balance sheet, our business units have implemented business continuity plans and financial assistance measures to ensure businessas-usual for our clients and customers who are coming to terms with the new normal.

The Aboitiz Group, along with more than 300 private companies and 40 local government units committed to “A Dose of Hope”, a tripartite agreement among the private sector, the Philippine government, and British drugmaker AstraZeneca in support of the National Immunization Program. Half of the vaccines purchased will be donations for government frontline workers, while the other half will be for private-sector employees – both regular and contractual – provided they follow the government’s priority sectors for distribution.

Each Business Unit will work directly with their respective subcontractor partners on the details of the vaccine rollout.

Availing Aboitiz team members and subcontractors shall be vaccinated in batches, prioritizing frontliners, senior citizens, and those with comorbidities, then the rest of the population. In the ASEAN region and other countries, Aboitiz team member vaccinations will be driven by various country governments where Aboitiz operates (particularly the Food Group). A vaccinated workforce will allow the Aboitiz Group to lead and significantly contribute to keeping the economy thriving under a better normal.

Over the last hundred years, the Aboitiz Group has proven its resilience to rise above the challenges. It has survived near bankruptcy, world wars, economic crises, and movements between islands, among other challenges. For generations of Aboitiz team leaders and team members, past and present, what remained constant was our commitment to our time-honored values of integrity, teamwork, innovation, and responsibility. We always put our peopl first and ensure that we push for a balanced pursuit of financial gains and sustainability. Our rich history shows what we have achieved while using our values as our compass, and how these have enabled us to drive change for a better world by advancing business and communities.

The COVID-19 pandemic is far from over, but we are certain that together as #OneAboitiz, we will emerge from this crisis better and stronger.