Lucio Tan Group donates P15 million bio lab to Red Cross

MANILA, Philippines — Lucio Tan’s holding firm LT Group Inc. recently donated a P15-million bio-molecular laboratory to the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) in Batangas City capable of conducting 4,000 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) tests daily using its own automated RNA extraction and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machine.

To be completed within a month, the new lab is expected to boost the COVID-19 testing capacity of PRC’s Mandaluyong headquarters and another one scheduled to operate soon in Port Area, Manila.

LT Group president and chief operating officer Michael Tan said the new lab aims to quickly identify, isolate and refer SARS-CoV-2 positive patients for proper treatment, aside from augmenting the government’s testing capacity.

With a floor area of 120 square meters, the fully equipped lab to be set up inside PRC’s former blood center in Batangas City is open to the public and will be manned by trained medical technologists.

In addition to COVID-19, the lab’s PCR machine is capable of detecting other diseases, like tuberculosis, cancer, human immunodeficiency virus, dengue, malaria, hepatitis and Zika, among others.

PRC chairman Sen. Richard Gordon recognized the urgent need for more bio-molecular laboratories and testing centers in the country to help beat the pandemic.

The LT Group’s donation is part of its response to COVID-19, and covers various facets of the battle against the virus – from providing supplies to medical health workers, to beefing up hospitals, and providing food and water to frontliners manning different borders.

Through various charities like “Help Flows,” the group has so far donated 40 ventilators, five PCR machines, two ambulances and one X-ray machine to public hospitals across the country.

It also provided over 500,000 pieces of personal protective equipment, 500,000 liters of ethyl alcohol, 101 thermal thermometers, four thermal scanners and more than 150,000 liters of drinking water plus food packs for medical and security frontliners.

“Help Flows” is supported by LT Group member firms Asia Brewery Inc., Eton Properties Philippines Inc., PMFTC Inc.’s Embrace corporate social responsibility program, Tanduay Distillers Inc., Philippine National Bank and sister company Philippine Airlines.