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US provides additional P298M assistance to Philippines' COVID-19 fight
The United States government provided an additional P298 million or $5.9 million assistance to help support the Philippines in the fight against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), its embassy announced Thursday.
The US Embassy in the Philippines said the additional funding will bring the total amount of US pandemic assistance to the country to more than P768 million or $15.2 million.
This came a month after President Rodrigo Duterte spoke to US President Donald Trump to discuss bilateral efforts to fight COVID-19. The conversation lasted 18 minutes.
The US Embassy said that as part of the new assistance, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) will partner with 18 local governments in some of the Philippines’ hardest-hit areas to promote effective crisis management and implement response plans.
It will also support local governments to rapidly disburse emergency funding and supplies, and strengthen the capacity of local crisis response centers to disseminate accurate and timely crisis response information, manage quarantine measures, set up public handwashing facilities, ensure food supply, and support local business recovery.
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To assist with small and micro-enterprise recovery, USAID will facilitate access to credit and provide grants and skills training to heavily affected sectors and communities, the Embassy further said.
The new assistance also includes P44 million or $875,000 from the US Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration for the International Committee of the Red Cross to support COVID-19 response in the Philippines, including increasing stocks of essential medical supplies and expanding hospital capacity, preventing the spread of disease in detention centers, and supporting resilience for vulnerable people and communities.
US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim welcomed the new tranche of support to the Philippines.
“This latest assistance builds on our long-standing relationships with local government units across the Philippines, and represents our continued commitment to our Filipino friends, partners, and allies in this time of crisis,” he said.—AOL, GMA News