Taiwan gov’t, group, donate over P10M for PH response after typhoons

CAGAYAN FLOOD / NOVEMBER 14, 2020
Aerial photos taken by the Philippine Air Force Saturday morning, November 14, from its Bell 412 utility helicopters show the extent of flooding in Cagayan and Isabela.
PHILIPPINE AIRFORCE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Taiwanese government and the Taiwan Association Inc. has made a combined donation of over P10 million to the Philippine government to help them respond to the devastation caused by Super Typhoon Rolly and Typhoon Ulysses.

The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) said that they have transferred in behalf of the Taiwanese government US$200,000 on Friday, as a humanitarian assistance for the victims of the recent typhoons that caused destruction and massive flooding in parts of Luzon.

The donation, which if converted to Philippine peso would be over P9.6 million, was received Vice Chairman Gilberto F. Lauengco of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO).

MECO also received another donation from Taiwan Association, worth P700,000.

“On behalf of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan), Representative Peiyung Hsu of the [TECO] in the Philippines donated US$ 200,000 to the government of the Republic of the Philippines as the humanitarian assistance for the victims of the recent typhoons including Rolly and Ulysses, at a hand-over ceremony in TECO on 20 November 2020,” TECO said in a statement.

“As the closest neighbor of the Philippines, Taiwan expresses its heartfelt condolences to the families which lost their beloved ones in the aforementioned tragic disasters and extends a helping hand to the Philippines for its rehabilitation and recovery work,” TECO added.

This is not the first time that the Taiwanese government made donations to the Philippine government.  During the earlier part of the year, Taiwan provided assistance to the country’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, from face masks, face shields, and personal protective equipment (PPE) sets.

As of November 17, 73 have been confirmed dead due to Ulysses, while damage to infrastructure and agriculture sits at now at P10 billion.  Meanwhile, the previous typhoons’ damage to agriculture amounts to P12.3 billion.

JPV