A Message from the Chairman
As you are aware, ICTSI and Bloomberry continue to play a leading role in the Philippine Government's battle against COVID-19 and its efforts to secure the leading vaccines for our country. We should all be proud of this pioneering national effort which has put us at the forefront of the country's testing and vaccination programs.
There is no doubt that ICTSI and Bloomberry have an intrinsic and moral obligation to assist our countrymen in every way possible. As such, in direct collaboration with the Inter Agency Task Force, the Department of Finance, Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez, and Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., we have now participated in, or led, the two most advanced private sector-assisted vaccination procurement programs to date.
Through a collaboration with the Government, GoNegosyo, and 30 other companies, we have formed a buying consortium that is bringing in the first three million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Through a tripartite agreement with the Government and AstraZeneca, these vaccines will be distributed to health worker and economic frontline personnel as part of the Government's inoculation priorities for mid-2021. ICTSI and its sister companies have committed 50 percent of the 300,000 purchased doses to the Philippine Government.
ICTSI is also the lead private sector party in the eventual procurement and distribution of the Moderna mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. ICTSI, the Philippine Embassy in Washington DC, the Department of Finance, and Secretary Galvez are collaborating to procure an estimated 20 million doses which to date will be the largest combined National Government, Local Government, and private sector vaccine order. Negotiations are ongoing and extremely advanced, and it is the combined group’s desire to secure these vaccines at the best possible price in the shortest amount of time.
ICTSI has formally committed to manage and fund the entire international logistics effort for the Moderna order. A state-of-the-art inoculation center is being planned to support not just our employees and their dependents, but our Local Government partners, Government Agencies, and the many small and medium enterprises that will require administration support. Planning and conceptual development have already started, and construction will begin soon.
Our main priority will be each and every employee and their qualified dependents, beginning with those who need it most: anyone with comorbidities and those 50 years old and above. We will endeavor to develop the safest and most efficient process possible to guarantee every employee and their direct family members across all our Group companies a vaccination in 2021.
The program will subsequently be focused on the broader maritime logistics industry and to the many tireless workers who have contributed to delivering essential work day in and day out across our waterfront.
We will likewise be supporting efforts to vaccinate at-risk residents of our host communities, especially in the hardest hit districts of Manila, Parañaque, lloilo, Cagayan de Oro, and the Subic Freeport Area.
I want to emphasize that our efforts will not stop here. We will continue to help where it is needed, particularly to ensure access to the vaccines for those in hard-to-reach areas across the rest of the country. You have our assurance that we will continue to do everything possible to ensure you, your families, and our partners across the waterfront have access to the most advanced, adequate, and safe vaccines anywhere.
We thank you once again for everything you have done while keeping critical goods moving and always adhering to our safety protocols. Most importantly, we thank you for being conscientious in looking out for one another. A long and difficult road lies ahead of us, but we would not have reached this point without your steadfast commitment to the Company and to your fellow employees.
Sincerely,
ENRIQUE K. RAZON, JR.
Chairman and President