PH secures ₱30 M in grants from Japan for human security projects
The Japanese government has signed five grant contracts worth US$590,781 (roughly P30 million) for the construction of a school dormitory, a health station, and classrooms, as well as the procurement of medical equipment and agricultural machinery, it was learned Thursday.
Japanese Ambassador to
the Philippines Koji Haneda signed the five contracts on November 22, 2019 as part of the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP), a 30-year-old program aimed to reduce poverty and helping various communities engaged in grassroots activities.
The first of the five projects is the construction of a two-storey dormitory building for the Philippine School for the Deaf (PSD) in Pasay City to meet the demand for the increasing number of students coming from all over the Philippines. The project cost is US$156,127 (₱8,009,326).
The second project is the construction of a health station with birthing facility in Paracelis, Mountain Province, an area lacking with health service facilities. The project aims to improve the accessibility to health services for about 12,000 residents in Barangays Palitud, Anonat, Bantay and Butigue, including 200 pregnant women a year. The project cost is US$80,927 (₱4,151,566).
The third project to be funded by the Japanese government is the construction of a one-storey fourclassroom for Don Felix Robles Elementary School in La Castellana, Negros Occidental, that would provide a safer and more comfortable learning space for its 1,827 students and contribute to the improvement in the quality of education and their healthy growth. The project cost is
US$81,122 (₱4,161,605).
Another project is the construction of a two-story four-classroom school building of Sto. Niño Elementary School in Kidapawan City, which has not been replaced properly since its construction 61 years ago, thus posing safety concerns to students and faculty members alike. The project cost is US$183,563 (₱9,416,828). The school building will also have four toilet facilities. This specific project is part of the Japan-Bangsamoro Initiatives for Reconstruction and Development (J-Bird).
The fifth project is the procurement of pre- and postharvest equipment for the farmers of the Municipality of Anao, Tarlac, an agricultural community with rice and corn as its primary crops. Through the GGP, the local farmers will be provided with a farm tractor, a trailing harrow, a rotovator, a combined harvester (default rice kit), a corn kit, and a trailer for transporting the combined harvester. The grant amount is US$89,042 (₱4,567,857).
To date, 548 grassroots projects, including the five mentioned above, have been funded by GGP with a total amount of US$33,742,160.
The signing ceremony was attended by Department of Education Undersecretary Alain Del Pascua, and Aleli Annie Grace Sudiacal of the International Health Cooperation, Department of Health.