SMPC donates additional 9,000 antigen kits to Antique

Semirara Mining and Power Corporation (SMPC) continues to support the healthcare units of Antique province to combat against the Omicron variant risk of COVID-19.

SMPC donated 7,500 rapid antigen test kits to the Antique Provincial Health Office, Caluya Municipal Health Office, and Barangay Semirara Health Unit on December 22, in addition to the 2,000 kits provided on October 8.

Last April, SMPC donated 3,000 rapid antigen test kits to the Antique provincial government to aid its mass testing program, totaling the donation to 12,500 kits for the entire province this year.

“Along with COVID-19 vaccination, the test and trace strategy still remain as among the most important strategies to our fight against COVID. Given the threat of the Omicron variant, we must continue to remain steadfast in protecting our people with the immediacy and convenience that antigen test kits can provide,” said Caluya Mayor Rigil Kent Lim.

SMPC is providing free accommodations to PHO and MHO medical teams who administer the jabs for residents of Semirara Island. SMPC also volunteered free use of its 2,900-meter food court as the island’s vaccination site that can accommodate 200 vaccinees per day.

“SMPC played a substantial role in the vaccination program. Through their initiative and encouragement of their employees (and family) to get vaccinated, it helped boost the vaccination status of the island,” said Caluya MHO chief Dr. Anna Marie Villalobos.

As of December 20, about 6,800 island residents and SMPC employees—roughly 40% of the island’s eligible population from ages 12 and above—have been fully inoculated with doses of CoronaVac (Sinovac), Oxford-AstraZeneca, Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, or Johnson & Johnson Janssen vaccines, according to the Caluya MHO.

SMPC is the only power producer in the country that owns and mines its own fuel source, allowing it to generate affordable and reliable baseload power for the Luzon and Visayas grids.

Source: Panay News