COVID-19 cash donations reach ₱34 M – DFA

The Philippine government has received about ₱34 million and some in-kind donations for its response against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as of August 21, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Saturday.

In a statement, the DFA said the donations from five foreign states and 40 domestic donors were coursed through the Office of Civil Defense. Fifty-five were in-kind donations.

On August 24, the government will launch the Philippine Humanitarian Assistance

Registry (PHAR) website (www.phar. gov.ph) "to ensure transparency and accountability in managing and allocating resources to the intended beneficiaries, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic."

PHAR is the primary government website for information, inquiries, and procedures on all local and foreign humanitarian assistance to the Philippine government.

These include in-kind and financial donations, deployment of humanitarian workers for COVID-19 as well as other future pandemics and civil and natural disasters.

The PHAR initiative was presented by the DFA to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases during its meeting on August 17.

The inter-agency effort was made under the ambit of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council of the Philippines, as the Philippine government’s primary mechanism on disaster preparedness, relief operations, and rehabilitation efforts. (PNA)