The president of the Chinese General Hospital in Metro Manila, Dr. James Dy, has offered to donate P2 million to the Department of Labor and Employment to help repatriate Overseas Filipino Workers infected with coronavirus 2019.
In a statement, Dy said this would be done through his organizations — the Filipino Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, Inc., (FCGCCI) and the Philippine Chinese Charitable Association, Inc. (PCCAI).
With the surge of COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong, the administrative region’s health system has been overwhelmed by the rise of infected residents.
“I was moved with pity upon learning of the sad plight of our ‘kababayans’ in Hong Kong who were forced to sleep in airport terminals and public parks for the past two nights after employers advised them to go home upon testing positive for COVID-19,” Dy said in a statement.
Dy requested Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III to contact the Department of Foreign Affairs through the Hong Kong Labor Attache and offered to help.
He initially thought of sending Molnupiravir, an oral antiviral treatment drug for COVID 19 infection, together with doctors and nurses to help take care of the OFWs but there was no available flight to Hong Kong.
Dy then offered to help charter a plane to bring home the sick OFWs through the Department of Labor and Employment.
“This is a simple token of gratitude to our modern-day Filipino heroes. We wanted to help assure the health and well-being of our OFWs who are working hard for their families and are stranded and sick abroad,” Dy said.
He added: “These heroes are an important backbone of our economy through their monthly remittances of hard-earned money from abroad. Now is the time to look out for them in their time of need.”