ROXAS CITY, Capiz, 13 March (PIA6) – At least four kinds of Japan – based emergency and rehabilitation assistance were received by the municipal government of Panay in the aftermath of supertyphoon Yolanda in the province.
This was revealed by Panay town mayor Dante Bermejo in an interaction with local mediamen during the ceremonial turnover of 5,800 sacks of rice from Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries to the Philippine government thru the ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve (APTERR) at Panay town civic center.
The allocation for Panay town is part of the 580 metric tons of Japan rice that will also be apportioned to supertyphoon victims in the towns of Balete, Aklan and Carles in Iloilo.
“First foreign responders in the municipality after Yolanda are volunteers of Japanese Heart who went down the community level to attend to the immediate medical needs of the residents especially on the town’s coastal and island barangays,” Bermejo noted.
The municipal chief executive added that a Japanese corporation Toshiba Information Philippines also conducted relief operation and rehabilitation activities like boat building and construction of communal septic tanks.
About 70 qualified households in Panay are also among the recipients in the province of the Japanese and national government funded UN Habitat core shelter units.
Aside from the Japan – based assistance, the town is also a beneficiary of assistance from Philippine Red Cross Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) Operation, Capiz Archdiocesan Social Action Center, International Organization for Migration, Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), Manny V. Pangilinan (MVP) Foundation, UN Food and Agriculture Organization, World Food Program, other international humanitarian groups as well as foundations and concerned government agencies.
The mayor has attributed the inclusion of the town in the various assistance to the municipal government’s persistence and networking in sourcing out external help for the immediate and rehabilitation needs of the residents. (JSC/AAL-PIA6 Capiz)