IN response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis and scarcity of ethyl alcohol in Negros Occidental as the supply got compromised due to logistical difficulty, Victorias Milling Company Incorporated (VMC) went full blast in its alcohol production immediately after the company was swiftly granted the necessary permits by the Food and Drug Administration and the Bureau of Internal Revenue in early 2020.
Since the crisis began, VMC has donated over 50,235 liters to 32 local government units (LGUs) in Negros Occidental and various government hospitals, particularly the COVID-designated health facilities and Red Cross. Several alcohol containers were also sent to Negros Oriental, Panay Island, Cebu, and Bicol.
VMC gave alcohol to the military, the police, and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Negros Occidental and Region 6, as well as to the private sector through Tatak Kalamay for the sugar industry and the Rotary Club of Bacolod Central for the community and the Negros Press Club for the media.
Throughout its operations of sugar mills and other subsidiaries, work arrangements were made to support the appropriate community quarantine directive of the provincial government. Various safety measures were put in place, both emergency and preventive, to protect not only its workforce but also its clients.
VMC donates rice to the local government units (LGUs) for distribution to its community members during the early stages of the lockdown.
Testing kit, thermal scanner donations to Victorias, Manapla, and Cadiz
kits to the cities of Manapla and Victorias in Negros Occidental.
A different take on the Department of Education’s “Brigada Eskwela”
Instead of the usual cleaning-up of schools, repainting, and beautification programs, VMC and the VMC Foundation provided COVID-19 equipment to 16 public schools in Victorias, Manapla, and Cadiz in time for the opening of the school year this October.
With its commitment to fight COVID and help keep communities safe and healthy, even with its annual Brigada Eskwela partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd), alcohol was donated along with thermal scanners, foot baths, and handwashing stations in selected schools to prevent the spread of the disease, particularly in poverty-stricken areas in nearby communities.
The anti-COVID equipment was turned over to DepEd supervisors and will benefit over 19,000 students and teachers. More than one thousand liters of alcohol were distributed, along with bond papers for use in the modular distance learning print method.
Beneficiaries are the Burgos National High School, the Hon. Pedro Villena Memorial Elementary School, Egido-Fernandez Elementary School, and Caduhaan Elementary School in Cadiz City. Manapla recipients include Begonia Elementary School, VICMICO Elementary School II, and Manapla National High School – Purisima Extension.
Nine schools in Victorias City have been selected and these are the Victorias Elementary School, Daan Banwa Elementary School, Victorias Milling Elementary School, Victorias North Elementary School, Victorias National High School, Estado Elementary School, Barangay Estado National High School, J.L. Suarez Elementary School, and Victorias National High School – Alfonso Sta. Ana MHS Extension./PN
