VICE President Jejomar Binay confirmed over the weekend that Russia donated P13 million worth of humanitarian aid for survivors of recent natural calamities in the Philippines.

According to Binay, the first batch of the 60 tons of relief goods from Russia arrived Saturday, Feb. 11 in Manila. The second batch is set to be flown in on Feb. 15 via IL76 Flight SUM9707.

In a statement, Binay said the Philippine government is grateful to the Russian Federation for its generosity.

“We are glad to receive this donation and I am sure this will be of great help to our kababayans in hard-hit areas,” he said.

Russia sent 16,200 cans of preserved meat; 7,200 cans of preserved fish, 5,000 kilograms of sugar, 80 pieces of tent, and 1,500 pieces of blankets, which cost around 9.13 million rubles or P12.9 million.

Through Ambassador Nikolay Kudashev, the Russian government requested the Office of Vice President Binay to assist in facilitating the delivery of the relief goods to the affected areas.

Binay asked the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DWSD) to help distribute the donated relief goods to disaster survivors in Negros Oriental and other areas affected by recent calamities.

“The DSWD knows the needs of the hard-hit areas,” Binay noted. “I leave it to them to decide where to send the relief goods.” 

(Butch Fernandez)