The Department of Agriculture (DA) in the Philippines has received a total of 950 metric tons (MT) of rice as donations from the South Korean government for the benefit of thousands of Filipino familis who were severly affected by calamities in Mindanao last 2019.
Beneficiaries last year included earthquake victims in Mindanao, specifically at North Cotabato and Davao de Sur, as well as other nearby areas at regions 11 and 12, as well as the flood victims in Cagayan Valley.
“On behalf of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, we would like to thank President Moon Jae-in and the people of the Republic of Korea for their generosity in helping our countrymen who suffered and survived a series of earthquake in Mindanao and flooding in Cagayan Valley,” said Department of Agriculture Secretary William Dar.
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The rice donation is part of the emergency food assistance of South Korea’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA).
In his letter to MAFRA Minister Kim Hyeon-Soo, Secretary Dar said, “South Korea’s donation is a manifestation of your country’s dependable support and concern to the Filipino people, and rest assured the rice will go beyond its initial intended purpose.”
The donations form part of the ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve Tier 3 (APTERR Tier 3) Program – a regional cooperation mechanism involving ASEAN member countries plus the Republic of Korea, Japan and the People’s Republic of China that aims to strengthen food security and provide emergency rice assistance to victims of natural calamities in member countries.
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National Food Authority Administrator Judy Carol Dansal confirmed that the non-glutinous rice was shipped by the Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corporation to the NFA as part of the APTERR Tier 3 program.
The rice shipments arrived last March at the ports of General Santos City (600 MT) and Manila (350 MT) and temporarily kept at NFA warehouses.
The NFA is set to turn over the South Korean rice donation to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for distribution to affected families in Regions XI, XII, and Cagayan Valley as identified by the DSWD in coordination with the concerned LGUs, said NFA Chief Dansal, who represents the Philippines in the ASEAN emergency rice reserve initiative.
