MANILA, Philippines — There are everyday heroes in the face of adversity. Examples of everyday Filipino heroes were shared by Alfamart chief operating officer Harvey Ong at the recent 27th National Retail Conference and Stores Asia Expo organized by the Philippine Retailers Association.
On the morning of March 17, 2020 Michael, an Alfamart store crew, woke up to news that Luzon was on enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and that public transportation came to a halt. Faced with this, he had two choices: file for emergency leave or walk to work. He chose to do the latter, walking three hours that morning from his home in Las Piñas to his store in Pasay City.
Alfamart’s human resources team immediately began reviewing store assignments, reassigning employees to stores that were closer to their homes.
Mercy, who worked at one of the Alfamart stores in Laguna, was one of the employees who received the offer to be reassigned. But she refused, much to the surprise of the company. She wanted to remain with her store so she can continue serving her community.
To get to work, she bought and learned how to ride a bicycle and rode it to the store every day, an hour’s ride each way.
And then there’s Rodel, who works at one of the Alfamart stores in Rizal. Rodel regularly goes out of his way after work, using his own personal time to deliver groceries to his regular customers: an elderly couple who cannot leave their home.
Alfamart takes pride in its people and the way they have been driven by purpose to serve the communities where they work, especially during this pandemic.
To ensure the safety of its people, Alfamart strictly adhered to government-mandated safety protocols. Employees were all provided with protective gear and COVID-19 testing was arranged for those who worried about exposure. Shuttles were temporarily provided during times when public transportation was suspended. Alfamart continues to limit the number of people inside their stores and implement temperature checks, contact tracing, and regular disinfection.
As vaccines became more available, the company encouraged employees to avail of vaccination programs arranged either by SM or by their respective LGUs. This included transporting employees from their place of work to the vaccination site. To date, over 80 percent of its employees have been partially or fully vaccinated.
Even with the pandemic affecting the company’s sales, Alfamart kept all of its stores open.
Despite the pandemic, Alfamart opened over 250 stores in 2020, the most it has done in one year. Today, it continues to open new stores in various parts of the country, seeing huge potential once the economy recovers.