Emergency Assistance to the Republic of the Philippines for Typhoon Disaster

December 8, 2012
Japanese

On Friday December 8, the Government of Japan decided to extend emergency relief goods worth 45 million yen (tents, jerry cans etc.) to the Republic of the Philippines, through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in response to the request following serious damage from the typhoons.
Typhoon Bopha (Philippine name: Pablo) cut across Mindanao in southern Philippines on December 4 and 5, triggering a series of flash floods, landslides and flooding and resulting in massive damage, including many casualties, injured, and displaced. The statement of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines on December 19 reported that 459 people were dead, 532 people were missing and the total number of those affected is more than 5,370,000 people.
In light of friendly relations between Japan and the Philippines, the Government of Japan has made the decision to extend emergency assistance for humanitarian aid for those affected.

[Reference]

In response to this situation, messages expressing sympathies were sent from Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to President Benigno S. Aquino III, and from Minister for Foreign Affairs Koichiro Gemba to Secretary of Foreign Affairs Albert del Rosario on December 5, and from Minister of Defense Satoshi Morimoto to Secretary of National Defense Voltaire T. Gazmin on December 6.
In March last year, in relation to the Great East Japan Earthquake, the Government of the Republic of the Philippines provided relief goods and dispatched a Medical Assistance Team to Japan. When President Aquino visited Japan last September, the President announced the donation of 1 million dollar to the Ishinomaki City, Miyagi.

(* The foregoing is a provisional translation. The date indicated above denotes the date of issue of the original press release in Japanese.)

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