MANILA, Philippines – Vice President Leni Robredo’s office and the partners of its anti-poverty program Angat Buhay opened a dormitory that health workers fighting the novel coronavirus can use for free.

Robredo said on Thursday, March 26, that the free dormitory is located in Cubao, Quezon City, but services will be on a “first come, first served” basis due to the limited number of beds and the need to implement physical distancing.

The dormitory can accommodate only 14 people at a time. The facility has 8 bedrooms and 8 comfort rooms. Each bedroom will have a mattress, pillow, blanket, electric fan, and garbage bin.

Medical frontliners who wish to get a bed at the dormitory should send the following details to either ovpfreedormservice@gmail.com or text 09985917408:

• Full name
• Gender
• Designation
• Hospital or organization 
• Work shift
• Current home address
• Contact details

Robredo said the Office of the Vice President (OVP) was able to establish the free dormitory through Angat Buhay partners Jay Ignacio, the Rotary Club of San Juan del Monte, the Spouses of Rotary Club of San Juan North, and Matrix Appliances PH.

“Sa pagsisimula ng inisiyatibong ito, umaasa kami na makapagbigay ng kahit kaunting ginhawa para sa ating mga magigiting na frontliners na walang sawa sa paglilingkod sa ating mga kababayan,” the Vice President said.

(By starting this initiative, we hope we would be able to provide even some relief to our noble frontliners who are tirelessly serving our countrymen.)

The free dormitory is just the latest among the OVP’s ongoing efforts to assist health workers on the front lines of the battle against COVID-19.  

Robredo’s office – which has a small budget compared to other agencies – has been soliciting donations from Angat Buhay partner-organizations to donate P5.3 million worth of COVID-19 extraction kits to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine and provide P30.1 million worth of personal protective gear for health workers across the country. 

The OVP also established a shuttle service to help ferry medical professionals around Metro Manila.

The virus has infected 636 people in the Philippines so far. Of this number, 38 have died while 26 have recovered. – Rappler.com