Extraordinary Endeavors in Turbulent Times: Asian Innovation, Inclusion, and Impact during COVID-19

ASIA BUSINESS COUNCIL HONG KONG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 13 Ayala Corp (Philippines) Extraordinary Endeavors in Turbulent Times Task Force T3 Ayala Corp.’s leadership in public-private partnership Task Force T3 is another example of the group’s ability to mobilize a broad stakeholder ecosystem. On April 22, 2020, Philippine Secretary of Finance and the country’s lead economic manager, Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez, asked JAZA if he could help organize more private sector support for the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) in its battle against COVID-19. The following day, Fred Ayala, Bill Luz, and Paolo Borromeo, head of Ayala’s healthcare arm Ayala Healthcare Holdings Inc. (AC Health), met with the Department of Health and the Asian Development Bank to explore how the Ayala group and the business community could help. On April 24, the IATF and the private sector group — which by now included the Metro Pacific Hospitals of the MVP Group, pharmaceutical product producer Unilab, and the Philippine Red Cross — publicly launched Task Force T3. Coined by National Task Force Chief Implementer Secretary Charlie Galvez, the name referred to the government’s three-pronged strategy to combat COVID-19: “Test, Trace, Treat.” Task Force T3 aimed to facilitate collaboration across sectors to improve the Philippines’ capacity in these areas. The task force ultimately included dozens of private sector partners as well as civil society and multilateral organizations. This illustrated a significant aspect of the crisis response, according to JAZA. Organizations used to working in a competitive environment came together to Notably, the vouchers were distributed via the parish system of the Catholic Church, a trusted partner with close ties to communities in the majority- Catholic Philippines. PDRF and Caritas Manila, the social services arm of the archdiocese of Manila, together provided over 14 million individuals with food aid. Jessica and Regie with their groceries purchased with the coupon from Project Ugnayan inside their home PHOTO: XYZA BACANI