The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
New Zealand Ambassador to the Philippine Peter Kell officially turned over Php 800,000 to the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) to help them procure additional Personal Protective Equipment for healthcare workers and frontliners.
Ambassador Kell was approached by Santino and Lorenzo Tanjutco, Grade 11 students from Everest Academy when they were informed of the shortage of equipment in the NKTI. In their letter to the Ambassador, Santino and Lorenzo said “Both of us strongly believe that in a time
of crisis such as the pandemic, nations should work together to be able to support one another.”
“The boys could not have said it better, countries need to work together and New Zealand is here to support the Philippines in their fight against COVID-19. We recognize the need to support the health workers who are at the forefront of this battle. This is just one aspect where New Zealand can help. We are working on other bigger projects that would help the
Philippines’ response to the pandemic,” said Ambassador Kell
The New Zealand Embassy immediately approached the NKTI under Dr Rose Liquete, Executive Director to facilitate the donation.
“This pandemic has truly exhausted our resources. Despite our annual procurement plan, we have not projected the sudden increase or demand on the use of PPEs in our hospital operations. We at the NKTI are very grateful to the New Zealand Embassy, as the donation
will help our front-line health workers for their safety in managing COVID patients at the NKTI,” said Dr Liquete.
She added, “As we protect our health care workers, we also protect our patients. This is an important event that demonstrates our “bayanihan” effort to control the spread of Corona Virus.”
The activity was funded through the Higher Embassy Fund of the New Zealand Embassy which supports small scale, short-term community projects that contribute to wider community well-being. Previous projects funded under this programme included Philippine Disaster
Resilience Foundation, Visayan Rugby Football Union and Al Qalam Institute – Ateneo de Davao University.