JAPAN PLEDGES ¥111 MILLION EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE FOR VICTIMS OF TYPHOON ‘REMING’ 

26 January 2007 – Acting Foreign Affairs Secretary Edsel T. Custodio and Chargé d’Affaires, a. i. (CDA) Eiichi Oshima of the Embassy of Japan have exchanged notes on the Japanese Government's pledge of emergency grant assistance worth ¥111 million (US$1.02 million or PhP44.4 million) at the Department of Foreign Affairs. 

This is the first time the Japanese Government granted a monetary donation to the Philippines’ Food-for-Work Program for relief efforts in areas in Bicol region that were devastated by Typhoon ‘Reming’ (International name ‘Durian’) in November 2006. It will cover the rehabilitation and restoration of affected communities, particularly in the provinces of Albay, Camarines Sur and Catanduanes, and augment the provisions for the immediate needs of those displaced by the calamity. 

“This provides us with a clear manifestation of our longstanding bilateral ties and bond of friendship,” Acting Secretary Custodio said in his remarks after the ceremony. 

The Food-for-Work Program, administered by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), seeks to meet the subsistence requirements of distressed or displaced individuals and families participating in or undertaking mitigation and rehabilitation activities in the communities affected. 

The signing ceremony was attended by officials from the DFA, DSWD, and the Embassy of Japan.  END

/jay

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