Cong. Edgar Chatto and Gov. Arthur Yap expressed gratitude to the Japanese Government and the national government agencies (NGA) for their support during the ceremonial turnover of donated rice distribution for typhoon Odette victims in Balilihan on Tuesday, May 17, 2022.
The activity saw the first public appearance of Gov. Yap after the elections.
The rice supply comes from a facility which is part of an agreement and cooperation between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries and the Japanese government seeking to help countries affected by natural calamities such as typhoon Odette that hit a number of provinces in the country including Bohol.
The rice supply comes from ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve (APTERR), a regional cooperation scheme between ASEAN countries, which the Philippines and Japan are members.
The aim of the scheme is to ensure food security and reduce poverty incidence, according to reports.
“We are still on the way to recovery from COVID [Coronavirus disease] and [typhoon] Odette which hit employment and agriculture,” Chatto said during the program where the Japanese Minister for Economic Affairs Masahiro Nakata was in attendance.
APTERR Secretariat General Manager Choomjet Karnjanakesorn, APTERR Secretariat Japanese Expert Toshiki Tojo, along with National Food Authority (NFA) Administrator Judy Carol Dansal, Department of Social Welfare and Development Usec. Fel Budiongan, Gov. Art Yap, and Balilihan Mayor Pureza Veloso-Chatto were also in attendance, during the event.
Moreover, Chatto said support from development partners, national government agencies and the Provincial Government of Bohol help bring normalcy to the lives of typhoon-affected families.
For his part, Yap also thanked the Japanese Government for the 3,333 bags of well-milled rice (200 bags of which were distributed to beneficiaries in Balilihan), for distribution to beneficiaries across the province.
In Balilihan, Mayor Chatto reported that 5,300 families, many of them rice, coconut, vegetables, crops farmers are affected by climate change, the Covid pandemic and the onslaught of typhoon Odette.
She also thanked the Provincial Government led by Yap, the government of Japan, and partners DSWD and NFA for the generosity towards Balilihan.
The APTERR is made of ASEAN member states, China, South Korea and Japan.
APTERR directly addresses the immediate threats to food security as a result of natural disasters when food supply is insufficient or when there is market volatility which greatly amplifies the risks posed by calamities.
Back in February 2022, Japanese ambassador to the Philippines Koshikawa Kazuhiko and Dansal welcomed the arrival of 300 metric tons of rice from the APTERR. The rice stocks were stored at NFA’s warehouses prior to distribution to typhoon-affected beneficiaries in Cebu, Surigao del Norte and Bohol.