The Philippine government formally accepted the 300-metric ton (MT) milled rice donation by Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) under the ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve (APTERR) Tier 3 Program on August 17, 2023 in Camalig, Albay.
Department of Agriculture (DA) Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Director Michael Christopher Mathay, and DA-National Food Authority (NFA) Special Assistant to the Administrator Roger Navarro accepted the donation intended for the families affected by the Mayon Volcano eruption. It was turned over by Embassy of Japan in the Philippines Minister for Economic Affairs Nihei Daisuke to APTERR Secretariat General Manager Choomjet Kernjanakesorn.
During the event, 300-MT milled rice stocks equivalent to 10,000 30-kilogram bags were distributed to the affected families identified by the DSWD.
The APTERR is a regional cooperation scheme among ten ASEAN member states plus three countries that include China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea. The cooperation aims at strengthening food security and reducing poverty in East Asia.
Other officials present during the activity include APTERR Secretariat Japanese Expert and MAFF-Japan Representative Akinori Ando, Albay Governor Edcel Greco Lagman, Camalig Mayor Carlos Irwin Baldo, Jr., and NFA Acting Assistant Regional Manager Gerard Lim. ###
