The Makati City government paid tribute to all frontline personnel and essential workers during the city's 351st anniversary celebration on Tuesday.
The program's highlights presented online via My Makati Facebook page were a drone show and a video footage offering tribute to medical workers, police officers and security guards, teachers, grocery assistants, and market vendors, riders and delivery personnel, and utility personnel.
The presentation titled 'Hawak Kamay" aimed to send a message of hope to all city residents and honor the sacrifices of medical frontliners and essential workers who have held on to their commitment to serve amid the pandemic.
“This year’s foundation day theme symbolizes our resilience in the face of adversity. It aims to inspire courage and optimism among the people of Makati, giving them reassurance that we, their leaders, are determined to leave no one behind,” said Mayor Abigail Binay.
She explained that even though safety protocols do not allow holding hands in the literal sense, the officials and civil servants of the city are bound by a mutual desire to continuously deliver essential services to residents.
“For over a year now, we have managed to deliver vital services to our constituents because of the tireless dedication and selfless courage of our frontliners in the city government as well as in the private sector,” the city chief executive said.
Binay also thanked city residents for supporting the city’s COVID-19 initiatives, including the mass vaccination program, Bakuna Makati.
To date, the local government has already inoculated over 50,000 city residents and workers who belong to the priority groups – medical frontliners, senior citizens, and persons with comorbidities, among others.
Aside from the Makati Coliseum and other designated vaccination sites in various schools and barangays, the city is also operating Vax OTG (on-the-go), the country’s first drive thru vaccination site located at the Circuit Makati grounds.
The first phase of the city’s vaccination plan covers around 30,000 medical frontliners including those in private health facilities.
Also in its priority list are some 98,000 senior citizens and 362,000 individuals in other categories, including workers in Makati-based businesses.
Since last year, the city government has provided financial aid and relief assistance to marginalized sectors, including public utility drivers, persons with disabilities, solo parents, and senior citizens.
Makati also implemented the first contactless distribution of cash aid in the country through its Makatizen Economic Relief Program or
“Makatulong”, using the GCash component of its first digital PPP initiative, Makatizen Card. To date, nearly 400,000 residents have received P5,000 cash aid under the program.
Another pioneering project, “Dyipni Makati” Mobile Learning Hub, effectively addressed the needs of public school students in adapting to the blended learning modality. The project has also provided stable livelihood for some 100 jeepney drivers and 54 teachers who were displaced by the crisis while providing assistance to over 37,000 students and parents to date.