Aid keeps pouring in for survivors of Taal eruption

PLAYTIME A girl plays with a cellular phone, unmindful of her grandmother and the chaos at an evacuation center in Ibaan town in Batangas, where residents of Taal Volcano Island sought refuge after Taal spewed ash and steam and left thousands homeless last month. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

The Japanese government, through its humanitarian aid arm, Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), is donating emergency goods to residents of Batangas province who were displaced when Taal Volcano spewed ash and steam on Jan. 12, as part of its capacity-building program in the Philippines.

The Batangas government said the province had so far received at least P39 million worth of financial aid from various donors in over a month since the Jan. 12 phreatic (steam-driven) eruption of Taal.

The amount, kept in a government trust fund, was intended to support long-term recovery of families who lost their homes and livelihood.

Face masks, gensets

In a telephone interview on Monday, Batangas administrator Levi Dimaunahan said he was not aware of any foreign government aid coming in yet, although some might have probably gone directly to the affected towns or through civil society organizations.

South Korea’s donation, for instance, was coursed through a humanitarian group, while China has committed some P7.2 million cash aid for Batangas.

Jica’s Philippines headquarters last week confirmed to the Inquirer that the goods had already arrived in Manila and were ready for distribution this week at the Batangas Sports Complex in Batangas City.

These included five units of power generators, five reels of extension cord, 5,000 jerry cans and 5,500 water containers.

Jica is also distributing 10,000 N95 face masks to communities whose residents have yet to resume their normal lives after thick volcanic ash covered large parts of the province.

Jica’s donation was coursed through the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

Records from the Batangas provincial disaster risk reduction and management council showed that 1,759 families remained in evacuation centers in the province on Monday or over a month after the eruption that temporarily displaced close to a million people.

Humanitarian assistance

The police, on Feb. 15, confirmed at least one fatality, 26-year-old Marlon Deteral, whose body was found buried in ash and mud on Volcano Island.

In a recent briefing with foreign press at Jica’s headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, Tetsuji Iida, advisor for planning and Asean (Association of Southeast Asian

Nations) partnership, said relief efforts in Taal were only one of its many humanitarian and disaster relief assistance to the Philippines, one of Japan’s top “clients” for over 66 years.

“Like the Philippines, Japan is also vulnerable to different natural disasters and we sincerely sympathize with the affected Filipinos of the volcanic eruption,” Wada Yoshio, Jica Philippines chief representative, said in a separate statement.

Days before Taal’s eruption, Japan’s Mt. Shintake in Kagoshima Prefecture also erupted, although there were no reported injury or damage. Apart from disaster response, Tetsuji said Japan was extending its program to cover maritime security and peace-building in Southeast Asia.

Japan has been the Philippines’ top foreign donor in recent years through grants, loans, investment and technical cooperation, with at least 247.6 billion yen currently committed to the country.