Turnover Ceremony for “The Project for the Construction of Classrooms for Manglicmot High School in Alamada, North Cotabato” under the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Project (GGP)

    On May 30, 2019, First Secretary Manabu Yasukawa of the Embassy of Japan attended the turnover ceremony in the municipality of Alamada, North Cotabato for “The Project for the Construction of Classrooms for Manglicmot High School in Alamada, North Cotabato.”
 
    The project was approved in 2014 and is part of Japan’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) through the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP).
 
   Also in attendance at the ceremony were Mayor Noemia D. Bartolome of the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Alamada, Mr. Agney C. Taru, Regional Educational Program Supervisor of the Department of Education Region XII, LGU officials, parents, school teachers, and selected students.
 
   In Manglicmot High School, students are having classes in makeshift classrooms and even have to suspend classes when rain occurs due to leaks. The lack of classrooms and increase to enrollment added burden to them as they also have to study in congested classrooms.
 
   In line with the Japan-Bangsamoro Initiatives for Reconstruction and Development (J-BIRD)*^1, and through the GGP, the Embassy of Japan provided assistance to the Local Government Unit of Alamada with a grant amounting to Ninety-Nine Thousand Eight Hundred Three US Dollars (USD 99,803) or Four Million One Hundred Ninety One Thousand Seven Hundred Twenty Six Pesos (PHP 4,191,726)^*2 to address the shortage of classrooms at Manglicmot High School. The grant covered the construction of two (2) storey - four (4) classroom school building with the necessary school amenities which will directly benefit over 200 students of the school.
 
   The Government of Japan, as the top ODA donor for the Philippines, launched the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects in the Philippines in 1989 for the purpose of reducing poverty and helping various communities engage in grassroots activities. At present, 543 grassroots projects have been implemented by the GGP. Japan believes that these projects will not only strengthen the friendship between the peoples of Japan and the Philippines but also contribute in sustaining the strategic partnership between the two countries.
 

Note*1: Since 2006, Japan has been intensively implementing the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects and other ODA projects for conflict affected areas in Mindanao, collectively called J-BIRD (Japan-Bangsamoro Initiative for Reconstruction and Development). Their total amount is over 200 million US Dollars. Furthermore, when former President Aquino made a state visit to Japan last June 2015, Japanese Prime Minister Mr. Shinzo Abe expressed at their summit meeting his support for the efforts by the Government of the Philippines to secure enduring peace in Mindanao, and stated that the Government of Japan will promote J-BIRD II in view of the establishment of a new autonomous political entity.
 
Note*2: Grant Amount: USD 99,803; Dollar Rate 1 USD = PHP 42 (February 2015)