OVER 50 McDonald’s Philippines stores were said to have been hit by Typhoon Odette but the majority have since resumed operations and only one remains closed.
“We closed as many as 53 stores but was able to open them at a limited capacity over the past days,” McDonald’s Philippines PR and Communications Senior Manager Meryl Adiel T. Hernandez said in an e-mailed response to questions on Dec. 29.
“To date, we only have 1 store closed, McDonald’s store in ICM Mall Cebu,” she added.
The six regions affected by the typhoon have since been put under a state of calamity. These include Mimaropa, covering the provinces of Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan; Western, Central, and Eastern Visayas; Northern Mindanao; and Caraga, with Siargao, Dinagat Islands, and Surigao City.
McDonald’s Philippines said the stores’ reopening is a priority. The stores are currently powered by the company’s power generators.
“It allows our people to continue to work and earn, and become a safe place for our customers to get a hot meal, and even charge their phones,” Ms. Hernandez said.
The fastfood chain is still waiting for full power restoration as well as the arrival of more supplies.
The company has pledged 150,000 meals for typhoon victims through its Kindness Kitchen initiative. It said special deliveries are made through air freight for hard-to-reach areas amidst logistical challenges.
McDonald’s Philippines Managing Director Margot Torres said that it has corporate partners for the initiative, such as Coca-Cola Philippines and Andrew L. Tan’s Emperador, Inc. and Megaworld Corp.
Golden Arches Development Corp., a partnership between the Tan-led Alliance Global Group, Inc. and the George Yang group, is the sole operator of McDonald’s Philippines.
“To date, we’ve already served 24,000 meals in areas like Cebu, Bohol, Iloilo, Palawan, Surigao, and Leyte,” Ms. Torres told the ABS-CBN News Channel on Wednesday. “By the end of the year, we should serve 30,000 meals.”
The rest of the meals will be distributed by January.
“Currently, we already have a number of special deliveries making their way to our stores in Butuan and Surigao to be distributed to communities nearby,” Ms. Hernandez said.
“We also have a number of container vans that are still on the way to Visayas and Mindanao to provide assistance, however are held up while awaiting roads to fully clear and reopen,” she added. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte