The Japanese government, through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), extended a new P500-million grant for community development in conflict-affected areas in Mindanao.
The grant will be used to facilitate the rehabilitation and construction of farm-to-market roads in Mindanao, particularly in Bumbaran in Lanao del Sur, Datu Paglas in Maguindanao and Alamada in North Cotabato.
“Through linking target farm villages to major highways, the project is expected to enhance the welfare of farmers that rely largely on crop production as their main source of livelihood,” National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Director General and Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said.
The grant assistance was made possible through the Japan-Bangsamoro Initiatives for Reconstruction and Development (J-Bird).
The community-development project, to be implemented by the Department of Agriculture, was endorsed through diplomatic channels on September 17, 2014.
Balisacan and Noriaki Niwa, the chief representative of the Jica Philippine Office, signed the grant agreement on behalf of the Philippine and Japanese governments, respectively, on Monday.
“We look forward to the attainment of full benefits from this undertaking, and, eventually, to the enjoyment of ‘dividends of peace’ in Mindanao through the implementation of various peace and development programs in the area,” Balisacan said.
In 2013 the Japanese government extended $74.13-million official development assistance (ODA) grants to the Philippines.
Japan’s ODA to the Philippines accounted for 2.5 percent of the total ODA grants received by the country in that year, worth $2.97 billion.
Data from the Neda showed that the top 5 sources of ODA grants in 2013 were Australia, the US, UN, European Union and the World Bank, accounting for 83.27 percent, or $2.47 billion, of the total ODA grants received.
2 comments
Have you no shame there in ” The Palace ” ? You are giving P70Bn to the Muslims, but your own farmers have to beg P500M from Japan for new roads !
why are you saying “giving 70B to the Muslims”…? …it seems like your mindset is still languishing in the Crusades….you’re one xenophobic prick…