US, Japan give more for Yolanda areas
Even though they were among the first to extend aid to Filipinos affected by Typhoon Yolanda last year, the United States and Japan are set to give more assistance to help disaster victims rebuild their lives.
The US will establish a P176-million Micro Enterprise Disaster Assistance Fund for Resiliency, in partnership with Philippine Business for Social Progress, which will extend credit to micro-enterprises even after it undertook a program to rehabilitate nearly 1,000 sari-sari stores in Yolanda-hit areas.
US Ambassador Philip Goldberg is expected to turn over today 36 sari-sari stores in Palo, Leyte which were rebuilt and restocked via the United States Agency for International Development, Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble.
Japan, on the other hand, will give firetrucks and ambulances to disaster areas after the signing of a grant to the Bureau of Fire Protection. The grant amounts to P8.5 million and will be funded through Japan’s Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects.
The Japanese embassy said 20 vehicles – 17 firetrucks and three ambulances – will arrive at Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority in November.
“It is part of Japan’s additional donation to the Philippines of previously-used 20 emergency vehicles (17 firetrucks and three ambulances) intended primarily for the municipalities seriously damaged by Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan in Central Visayas,” the Japanese embassy said.
The Japanese government, the top Official Development Assistance donor for the Philippines, launched the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects in the Philippines in 1989 to reduce poverty and help communities engaged in grassroots activities.
“Japan believes that this project will not only strengthen the friendship between the peoples of Japan and the Philippines but also contribute to further fostering a strategic partnership between Japan and the Philippines toward the future,” the embassy said.