Indonesia has earlier donated 40 tons (40,ooo Kg) of foods, blankets and medicines and a USD 1 million (PHP 40.63 million) grant to the Philippine government last December while renewing its joint military cooperation to pin down transnational terrorist groups.
By MICK M. BASA
Davao Today
DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Victims of the tropical storm Pablo (International name: Bopha) are getting more humanitarian assistance as an Indonesian warship brought 1,700 metric tonnes (1.7 million kilograms) of rice to the Philippines.
Indonesian Consul General Eko Hartono turned over the assistance to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) as witnessed by the Philippines’ and Indonesia’s armed forces and the United Nations World Food Programme on Sunday, January 13.
“We will be in your side in these difficult times. We hope that our humanitarian assistance would suffice (the need of the victims of Pablo),” Hartono said during the ceremony inside the 122-meter long South Korean-built Makassar-class land platform dock.
Indonesia has earlier donated 40 tons (40,ooo Kg) of foods, blankets and medicines and a USD 1 million (PHP 40.63 million) grant to the Philippine government last December while renewing its joint military cooperation to pin down transnational terrorist groups.
Hartono said Indonesia’s Red Cross and the National Agency for Disaster Management helped accumulate the assistance given to the storm survivors.
In Davao del Norte, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council noted that a total of 38,873 families or 191,987 individuals were affected by typhoon Pablo from the three cities and eight municipalities.
About 43,360 families from the 87 villages have received a total of 62,337 food-pack assistance from the municipal and provincial levels and the DSWD, said Romulo Tagalo, Assistant Provincial Administrator of the province, in last week’s Kapehan sa PIA.
The province has incurred almost PHP 144 million-worth damage to infrastructure and a total of over PHP 3 billion-worth damage to agriculture covering 16, 828 hectares.
Tagalo said they were able to raise PHP 876,392 total cost of assistance, as of January 10, from different donors including individuals, private institutions, government employees, among others. The assistance includes cash, food and clothing, among others.
Meanwhile, the Philippine government is eyeing to purchase two Makassar-class land platform docks from Indonesia as it gears to upgrade its fleet of battleships, Severino David, Deputy Commander of the Eastern Mindanao Command, said.
“We aim to modernize our military vessels by replacing our World War II ships to something like this,” David told davaotoday.com, referring to the Indonesian warship that can carry 218 troops and with a speed of up to 16 knots.
If purchased, David said the Philippine Navy would use it to ferry troops around Luzon and Visayas, as well as to carry relief goods from the capital. (With a report from Irene V. Dagudog/davaotoday.com)
