Japan donates food aid to Bangsamoro

MANILA, Philippines — The Japanese government is donating over 1,788 tons of Japanese rice worth approximately P162 million to thousands of Filipino families in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

The initiative by the World Food Program (WFP) Philippines is expected to support farming and fishing households.

The food aid project was signed by Japan’s Ambassador to the Philippines Koshikawa Kazuhiko and WFP country director Brenda Barton.

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., Acting Foreign Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro and BARMM Agriculture, Fisheries and Agrarian Reform Deputy Minister Ammal Solaiman were also in attendance as witnesses to the event.

“We have every confidence that this project will contribute not only to food and nutrition security but also to the stabilization of daily life in Mindanao. I trust that with the WFP’s unique expertise in food security, nutrition and peacebuilding, the BARMM will enjoy the dividends of peace,” said Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Koshikawa Kazuhiko in a statement. —TINA G. SANTOS