MANILA, Philippines – Manila Mayor Isko Moreno and the capital’s other elected officials have agreed to donate their salaries in April to the Philippine General Hospital, he announced on social media on Saturday night, April 4.

Moreno mentioned Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna, City Council Majority Floor Leader Joel Chua, and all city councilors, saying they would all forego this month’s wages worth a total of P4.7 million.

“Sa maliit po naming kaparaanan, sana po ay makatulong ito sa pagpapalakas ng kakayahan ng ating mga frontliner sa healthcare sector para labanan ang outbreak ng COVID-19,” he said on his official Twitter and Facebook pages.

(In our small way, we hope it would help strengthen the capability of our frontliners in the healthcare sector to fight the COVID-19 outbreak.)

The University of the Philippines – Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) in the City of Manila is one of the Department of Health’s designated “referral hospitals” for COVID-19 patients.

This means the UP-PGH’s central facilities will be dedicated to coronavirus patients that would be referred to it from other hospitals or institutions. However, it still accepts non-coronavirus patients.

Other coronavirus referral hospitals include the Lung Center of the Philippines in Quezon City, and the Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital in Caloocan City.

These hospitals are on the frontlines of battling the pandemic, which in the Philippines has already claimed 144 lives as of Saturday.

There are a total 3,094 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country, of whom 57 have recovered so far. – Rappler.com