A group of charitable foundations has turned over the first tranche of salary and bonus assistance to nurses who are serving in the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19)-dedicated hospitals in Cebu.

A statement from the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) on Tuesday said the Project Balik Buhay’s “Salary and Bonus Assistance for our Bidas (PBB-SalBaBida)” program released on Monday the first monthly allowance of PHP15,000 to each of the nurses.

The program was launched last July to encourage nurses to continue serving the front-line facilities.

They were deployed to private hospitals in August at the height of another surge in Covid-19 cases in Cebu which overwhelmed the healthcare system and affected the critical care utilization rate of medical facilities due to lack of personnel.

Among the hospitals that benefitted from the deployment were Chong Hua Hospital-Fuente, Chong Hua Hospital-Mandaue, Cebu Doctors’ University Hospital Group, Perpetual Succor Hospital, ARC Hospital, and Cebu Velez General Hospital.

The Adventist Hospital Cebu, Southwestern University Medical Center, St. Vincent General Hospital, Maayo Well Cebu and Visayas Community Medical Center also received some nurses supported by this project.

Secretary Michael Lloyd Dino, OPAV head, said the stipend for the nurses was borne out of the generosity of various private foundations.

“These foundations are headed by big businessmen who are working together to help the government address the impact of the pandemic to the local economy of Cebu. They want to help in the fight against Covid-19 by helping hospitals acquire personnel to man their ICUs and Covid-19 beds,” he told the Philippine News Agency.

Dino witnessed the ceremonial turnover of the amount at the Visayas Vaccine Operations Center in Oakridge Business Park, Mandaue City.

The foundations that contributed to the fund for the nurses’ honorarium were the Cristina Lee Dino Foundation, SM Foundation, Inc., BDO Foundation, LH Foundation Inc., PLDT-Smart Foundation, Juanito I. King Foundation, Inc., Visayan Electric Co., Cebu Landmasters, Inc., Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Century Pacific Group Rspo Foundation Inc.

“The fight against the Covid-19 virus continues and it is our collective appeal for all Cebuanos to each do our part by strictly observing the proper health protocols and helping protect each other, as we move forward in our shared mission of saving lives and restoring livelihoods,” Dino said. (PNA)