First Gen Corp. of the Lopez Group assured the public its power plants will continue to generate electricity during the 30-day enhanced quarantine period after setting continuity measures.
“Our power plants in Batangas, Nueva Ecija, and Mindanao continue to provide much-needed power for hospitals and institutions providing basic necessities. And this is because our power plant Operations and Maintenance teams continue to go to our sites and make this happen,” First Gen president Francis Giles Puno said in a message to employees.
Puno said the entire company was in a work-from-home program, while the business continuity measures were in effect.
“Our mission critical employees, particularly in our plant operations and power trading teams, have reported — or are ready to report — for work at their designated sites,” he said.
Puno thanked the personnel “who are our very own front liners in this battle against COVID-19, for their selflessness and sense of duty.”
“We recognize that they are going the extra mile, not just physically, but also mentally. We understand that takes quite an effort to focus on critical work on their hands, while they think about how to keep their families safe and supplied at home amid news updates about COVID-19,” he said.
Puno said First Gen was implementing stringent measures to protect its people, such as fielding a skeletal workforce per shift, strict social distancing during shifts, rigid isolation of control rooms and cleaning, as well as disinfecting areas between shifts.
“So many more of you continue to provide work support in the background to enable fellow employees to fulfill their responsibilities and ensure compliance with our regulatory, customer and stakeholder commitments. All of these support services allow us to keep clean and reliable power flowing to our customers, including hospitals and other key infrastructure, which provide our most basic necessities. Your work is equally appreciated,” Puno said.
He said workers from First Gen’ key support service providers, including contractual employees, would continue to be paid even if they were not required to come to work so that they could support their families during lockdown period.
Puno urged First Gen employees not to be complacent as the number of infected with COVID-19 continued to increase.
“Let’s focus our efforts, comply with government measures to contain the virus, and do what we can to support and comfort each other and our families. Let’s continue to work together and do our best to keep the lights on for our stakeholders, so that we can all emerge from this global crisis more resilient than ever,” he said.
First Gen, which operates 3,492 megawatts of clean low carbon and renewable portfolio, is one of the country’s biggest power generating companies.