The northern Luzon provinces of Cagayan and Isabela which were two of the hardest hit provinces by Tropical Storm Paeng will receive $400,000 (roughly P22.9 million) in donation from Taiwan.
Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) Representative Peiyung Hsu turned over the check to his Philippine counterpart, Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) chair Silvestre Bello III.
Cagayan Governor Manuel Mamba was also on hand for the event.
“We hope that with this cash donation we could help the affected people recover from the suffering and from the calamity and also make their life back to normal as soon as possible,” Hsu said in his speech.
Hsu said his country wants to “participate in the spirit of bayanihan and ensure” that no Filipino in need is left behind.
“We value the Philippines very much. We are the closest neighbors so we have to help each other,” he added.
Bello said the amount, which is to support ongoing disaster relief and humanitarian efforts on the ground, would be divided between the two provinces.
Taiwan has consistently help Cagayan, extending assistance to the province in times of disaster, Mamba said.
“We are really grateful that you see our plight, as a neighbor, you see how helpless we could be in so many times. This has always been our incessant problem, before Paeng hit us there were three others that hit us, too,” he said.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council records showed more than 53,000 houses were damaged due to the storm, while agriculture loss reached around P6 billion.
A total of 159 people were also reported to have died, 146 others injured, while 30 remained missing as of Nov. 11