11 March 2004 - Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia  Domingo Albert praised the government of Japan for
 funding the installation of an x-ray machine at a  hospital in Quezon City and a potable water system in
 Quezon province through its Grant for Assistance for  Grassroots Project (GAGP) under the country’s Official
 Development Assistance (ODA) Program.

 “The government of Japan has always been at the  forefront of the country’s social development by  helping provide for the needs of local communities and  people in the remote areas”, Secretary Albert said.  “The lives of the direct beneficiaries of these aid  programs will invariably be enhanced and members of  their communities further empowered to be more  effective and become more responsible members of  society.”

 In December 2002, Japan extended the amount of  US$72,196.00 to Fe del Mundo Medical Center in Banawe,  Quezon City for the diagnostic radiography/fluoroscopy  X-ray equipment.  With the new equipment, the hospital  will no longer be compelled to refer most of its  clients for x-ray to other hospitals, and service
 patients from its own satellite clinics in San  Ildefonso, Bulacan, and Cabuyao, Laguna.

 A grant contract amounting to US$30,361.00 was signed  at the Japanese Embassy in Manila on 24 February 2004  for the construction of a sustainable community  potable water system for Barangay Mapulot in
 Tagkawayan, Quezon.  Around 348 households or 2,088  residents in three sitios, including the clients of a
 health center and students of two schools in the said  locality will benefit from the project.  The project  will enable the supply of affordable and accessible  water, aid in decreasing water-borne diseases in the  area, reduce the inconvenience of residents from  fetching water.

 Japan’s GAGP was launched in the Philippines in 1989  for the purpose of reducing poverty and helping
 various grassroots communities. END.