It has been 4 months already since Typhoon Pablo (Bopha) struck southern and central regions of Mindanao and brought damage in Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley provinces, World Food Programme (WFP) Philippines together with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and local government units (LGUs) they created assistance programme to help the recovery of the families and nutrition for the children in the typhoon-stricken area. In line with the Typhoon Pablo operations of WFP the government of Japan extended their help by donating PhP81 million (US$2 million).
The said amount was used by the WFP to purchase 2,982,000 kilograms (2,982 metric tons) of rice, enough to feed 250,000 people for two months. The donation was formally handed over recently by the Embassy of Japan’s Head of Davao Consular Office Mr. Koichi Ibara, in the Municipality of Monkayo in Compostela Valley province. Receiving the donation were Compostela Valley Governor Mr. Arturo Uy and Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Provincial Director Ms. Josephine Frasco. Also present were Mr. Koki Ando, Chairman of the Japan Association for WFP; Mr. Dipayan Bhattacharyya, WFP Philippines Officer-in-Charge; and Mr. Masanobu Horie, WFP Philippines Head of Programme in Mindanao.
Aside from the Php 81 Million assistance that the government of Japan given to WFP this year, last December they already extended their help to the humanitarian organization for the recovery and assistance of Typhoon Pablo victims where they donated 45 million Japanese yen (approximately PhP22 million) in the form of relief items coursed through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). In addition, the emergency grant aid of US$4.2 million to the Philippines was in response to the Typhoon Bopha/Pablo Response-Action Plan for Recovery carried out by the United Nations and the Government of the Philippines through the WFP, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Areas that benefit in the assistance programme of WFP with the help of DSWD include Compostela Valley, Davao Oriental, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Sur, and Lanao del Sur for the food assistance. For recovery Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental, are supported by the DSWD and WFP’s food-for-work programme, which are set to expand to large-scale implementation after April.
