MANILA - Philippine Seven Corp, the exclusive 7-Eleven licensor in the country, said Thursday it has partnered with the Department of Health to fight the coronavirus pandemic at the barangay level.

PSC announced in a statement it allied with DOH's BIDA Solusyon Campaign to help monitor coronavirus updates. According to the Philippine 7-Eleven operator, its store personnel surveyed around 38,000 people in 7,000 inner neighborhoods last August.

Only 60 percent of customers in their stores wore masks, PSC said, which spurred the firm to put up COVID-19 update posters in each of its stores nationwide with barangay data of coronavirus cases.

The poster is updated daily with data from the DOH, showing the number of active COVID-19 cases in the barangay where the 7-Eleven store is located. It also shows the same information about nearby barangays.

“Our management philosophy is ‘show the right data in the right form to the right people at the right time, and they will make the right decisions.’ You can’t look over the shoulder of every store manager when you have 3,000 stores - you have to give him the freedom to manage his store, but at the same time let him know how he is doing, so he can either be left alone, recognized, or held accountable. We think the same is true with regard to managing COVID-19," said PSC President and CEO Victor Paterno in a statement.

Through the information drive and other capacity-building initiatives for local government units (LGUs) and their respective barangay health emergency response teams (BHERTs), PSC said its stores, the DOH and the Department of Interior and Local Government seek for a stronger reaction against the pandemic.

“BHERTs are the first-line responders to the public for any COVID-19-related health concern,” said Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Singh Vergeire.

“Through 7-Eleven’s information drive initiative, the BHERTs, and the Barangay Disiplina Brigades, we aim for a stronger response at where transmission is most common: the barangay level.”

PSC said its COVID-19 update posters in its 7-Eleven stores will further raise awareness about the virus by informing customers about the number of active infections in their barangay.

The convenience store operator said it will be also launching a "Bidang Barangay Contest" in at least 50 major cities and municipalities nationwide to encourage both BHERT officials and residents to be proactive in sharing information about COVID-19 cases in their area.

Vergeire emphasized the importance of united efforts between government and the private sector in the fight against COVID-19.

“Malaking bagay po ang pakikipagtulungan ng private sector sa pagapapalawig ng ating pandemic response. We were able to do it more efficiently because of the cooperation of the different business sectors.”