Amcham North Luzon Holds General Membership Meeting

By Sherlyn Malit

The AmCham North Luzon chapter held its General Membership Meeting last July 13, 2021. The event started with welcome remarks by Dr. Francisco Villanueva Jr., President of Amcham- North Luzon, followed by the induction of new members, namely Jocson College and Molex. Afterwards, Ebb Hinchliffe, Executive Director of Amcham Philippines, introduced the guest speaker, Honorable Albert “Abet” Garcia, Governor of the Province of Bataan. In his pre-recorded video presentation, Governor Garcia shared his gratitude for being part of AmCham, an institution that encourages and recognizes business and social responsiveness.

Bataan is known for their effective response to COVID-19, as they are one of the provinces that logged the lowest COVID-19 cases nationwide. Gov. Garcia shared Bataan’s response, which is prevent, detect, isolate, test, treat and strategize.

• Stressing the importance of adhering to minimum public health standards, there was strict implementation of technology-driven order control measures through the use of IP radios, CCTV cameras and a QR code system.
• 32 temporary treatment and quarantine facilities were established last year, with 16 of them still in operation today to accommodate the increasing cases in the province. The surge also gave birth to the One Bataan mega quarantine and processing facility. The immediate establishment of the One Bataan PGHMC RTPCR Laboratory remains one of Bataan’s most considerable achievements in the area of expanding testing, as well as the recently-inaugurated RTPCR Laboratory located at Mariveles District Hospital.
• Immediate activation of the PHO and Department of Health hotline for referral cases with the help of Metro Bataan Development Authority at the COVID-19 command center. This is where they also monitor the real-time dashboard system of active cases, including the hospital bed tracker application.
• Incentive-based programs were also implemented to intensify the community engagement in the form of the One Bataan seal of COVID-19 free barangay and the One Bataan patroller.

Gov. Garcia believes that while Bataan still struggles to keep the community transmission of COVID at a manageable level, there are valuable lessons on resiliency, perseverance, unity and hard work that they can gain from this experience. He highlighted the partnership of LGU and barangays down to each constituent. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, it’s noteworthy how Bataan transformed into a choice investment destination, a recipient of the Seal of Good Local Governance for the past 4 consecutive years, and was awarded Most Business Friendly Province in 2018.

The governor also shared that Bataan is gearing up for bigger developmental projects through private and public partnership (PPP), a tool in harnessing private investments and expertise for public infrastructure and service in the province of Bataan. One of their projects is the Bataan-Cavite Interlake bridge. It is a 3.6-billion dollar project set to create a humongous impact on economic growth not just in Bataan and Region 3, but also in NCR, Cavite, and the entire Region 4.

Lastly, Gov. Garcia shared key takeaways from the pandemic. “It’s the unquantifiable importance of unity, cooperation between the government and private sector. It has made our efforts, policies and programs more significant and more effective. And this is where the strength of Bataan lies: one vision, one heart, One Bataan.”

Please visit and join the John Clements Talent Community.

About the author:

Sherlyn is a skilled human resources professional with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Psychology from De La Salle University- Dasmarinas. She considers herself as an old-school type of girl that enjoys staying at home and spending her weekends together with her family. Sherlyn believes that she’s a work-in-progress and desires to make Jesus known and share his love to others.