Turnover Ceremony for "The Project for the Construction of Classrooms for Catalunan Grande Elementary School in Davao City”

    On August 28, 2019, Consul General Yoshiaki Miwa, First Secretary Manabu Yasukawa of the Embassy of Japan attended the turnover ceremony in Davao City for “The Project for the Construction of Classrooms for Catalunan Grande Elemen
tary School”.
 
    The project was approved in 2017, and is part of Japan’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) through the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP).
 
    Philam Foundation, Inc. Chairman Mr. Ariel Cantos, Philam Foundation, Inc. President Mr. Maximillian G. Ventura, parents, school teachers, and selected students also graced the event.
 
   Majority of the residents of Barangay Catalunan Grande belong to low income families. Thus, most of the students enroll in Catalunan Grande Elementary School, the only public school in the barangay. The continued increase in its student enrollment resulted to crowded and congested classrooms. This situation left the students with no choice but to use the dilapidated classrooms that are no longer safe and conducive for conduct of classes.
 
    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 Philam Foundation, Inc.. the project implementer, with a grant amounting to One Hundred Six Thousand One Hundred Thirty-Five US Dollars (USD 106,135) or equivalent to Five Million Three Hundred Seventy Thousand Four Hundred Thirty Three Pesos (Php 5,370,433)^*2. The grant covered the construction of six classrooms and the provision of furniture and fixtures which will directly benefit 350 students of Catalunan Grande Elementary 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 engaged in grassroots activities. At present, GGP has funded 543 grassroots projects in the country. Japan believes that these projects will not only strengthen the friendship between the peoples of Japan and the Philippines but will also contribute in sustaining 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 in 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 106,135; Dollar Rate 1 USD = PHP 50.6 (September 2017)