Let’s be realistic: It’s sad to think that some of these provisions may never reach the intended recipients.
READ: Tacloban needs PHP20billion for Yolanda rehab, has gotten only about PHP250million
“Nine tons of emergency provisions were donated to the Philippines by the Chiyoda City Government in Tokyo,” reports ABS-CBNnews.com.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is in charge of distributing these emergency provisions in the Philippines in October.
According top the report, “Philippine Ambassador to Japan Manuel M. Lopez expressed his sincere appreciation for the donation, which included 70 disaster preparedness kits called ‘White Boxes’ for the Philippine embassy in Tokyo.”
The report explained: “The Japan Emergency Food Organization (JEFO) helps in gathering emergency supplies for city governments, schools and companies. To ensure the quality of the supplies, inventories are updated and these emergency stockpiles are replaced every few years though many of these provisions are set to expire in another three to four years.”
As it turns out, JEFO “founded the White Box Activity (WBA) so that the disaster preparedness supplies scheduled for disposal are rerouted to countries in immediate need of humanitarian assistance.”
The report added: “When typhoon Haiyan (“Yolanda”) struck in 2013, the Philippines became the first recipient of the WBA.”
Photo from WikiCommons
