Japanese trader lives up to promise

MANILA, Philippines—Though the effort may be better suited for his homeland which is still reeling from the effects of a powerful earthquake and its aftermath, 72-year-old Japanese businessman Katsutoshi Shimizu will not be diverted from keeping his word—that he will build 11 classrooms in the Philippines, which he considers his second home.

“I want to say arigato (thank you) to the Philippines. I promised him (Education Secretary Armin Luistro), so I have to do that,” Shimizu said on Thursday.

“I am happy and I appreciate that Filipinos are concerned about the tsunami victims (in Japan),” said the used ships trader who has been doing business in the Philippines since 1969.

The businessman’s R.K. Shimizu (Nagasaki) Foundation Inc. has donated P7.4 million to the Department of Education (DepEd) earmarked for building and furnishing classrooms at the Venancio Trinidad Memorial Elementary School in Talisay, Batangas and the Carreton and Carlosa Elementary Schools in Calatagan, also in Batangas.

Shimizu said desks, chairs and tables were pooled from donations in Nagasaki, where the businessman has also given help to the Japanese city’s schools.

Military engineering brigades from the Armed Forces National Development Support Command have pledged to build the classrooms by July. They will be handed over in a ceremony on July 13, Shimizu’s 73rd birthday, on the donor’s request.

“It is my way to repay the Philippines. I believe only education can make a nation successful,” he said in a press conference at the DepEd.

Luistro said Shimizu’s grant was extra special considering the situation in northeastern Japan, where thousands lost their lives after a massive earthquake triggered a tsunami and a nuclear crisis.

“But Mr. Shimizu still had a word of honor. I will never forget this. The Philippines feels like this is more than the usual project because it came at a time when Japan needs a project like this inside Japan,” Luistro said.

He said that under the circumstances, he did not expect the project to push through and felt that Shimizu’s donation should serve Japan’s needs more.

“I think it’s easy to give in times of excess. But when a person gives in this kind of situation, this takes on a different type of value,” Luistro said.

Shimizu, who has long been giving scholarships to children of his employees, vowed to construct some 30 school buildings in the next three years.

Noting the importance of the private donation, Akio Isomata, Minister of Economic Affairs at the Japanese Embassy in Manila, said, “I wish that through this project, the friendship between the peoples of the Japan and the Philippines will continue to prosper in the years to come.”