(Eagle News) — Jack Ma, founder of the Alibaba Group, has pledged to give half a million face masks to the Philippines to help in the country’s fight to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease, the Department of Finance said.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said hat Ma had committed the delivery of the masks at the latest by early next week through the Jack Ma Foundation and the Alibaba Foundation.
Dominguez said that he was able to talk to Ma through phone. The Chinese billionaire told him that he wanted to help the Philippines in its efforts to fight the pandemic.
“I hope that I can do something more. For now, we have decided to give 500,000 masks to the Philippines,” Domnguez quoted Ma as saying.
“I want to personally send my best regards and hope we can do something for the Philippines to fight this virus,” Ma told Dominguez via phone.
In response, Dominguez said: “Thank you very much, Jack. This is very, very much needed here, and I will tell our President right away of your generosity and your desire to help.”
Ma also provided Secretary Dominguez a downloadable electronic handbook that could help Philippine doctors, nurses, and other health workers remain safe and avoid infection while treating COVID-19 patients, a DOF release said.
The handbook, published by the Jack Ma Foundation, draws on China’s lessons learned from fighting COVID-19 and is co-authored by several medical experts who served at the frontlines of China’s efforts to contain the spread of the virus. (See: https://covid-19.alibabacloud.com)
