MANILA, Philippines - The Japanese government has donated approximately 35,000 metric tons of fertilizers worth about P300 million to the Philippines.
The fertilizers were turned over to the Philippine government through Japan’s 7th Non-Project Grant Aid (NPGA) extended in March 2008 which amounts to ¥600 million.
Embassy of Japan Head of Chancery Minister Jiro Okuyama formally turned over the fertilizers to Department of Agriculture Undersecretary and executive director of the National Agricultural and Fishery Council (NAFC) Bernie Fondevilla.
In his speech, Okuyama expressed strong optimism this assistance would serve as another bridge that would strengthen and deepen the friendship and cooperation between Japan and the Philippines.
The latest batch of NPGA is the 8th NPGA amounting to ¥700 million (P350 million) which was extended to the Philippines in February 2009. The total value of the eight NPGAs amounts to ¥15.8 billion (P7.9 billion). These NPGAs have enabled the Philippine government to procure commodities which are necessary for the country to improve its economic structure.
The countervalue fund accumulated by the Philippine government through selling those commodities enables the government to carry out various projects for the socio-economic development of the country. These include the project to distribute personal computers for secondary public schools nationwide, and the project to construct the Philippine Judicial Academy Development Center of the Supreme Court in Tagaytay.