Turnover Ceremony for “The Project for the Construction of Level II Water Supply System in Barangay Kablon, Municipality of Tupi, Province of South Cotabato (GGP)”
2022/7/21
On July 20, 2022, Consul-General ISHIKAWA Yoshihisa of the Consulate-General of Japan in Davao, Vice Consul MITSUHASHI Rie, and Third Secretary YAMADA Yumi from the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines attended the turnover ceremony in Tupi, South Cotabato for “The Project for the Construction of Level II Water Supply System in Barangay Kablon, Municipality of Tupi, Province of South Cotabato.” Mayor Romeo Tamayo of Tupi graced the event. Approved in 2018, the project is part of Japan’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) through the Grant Assistance for Grass-Roots Human Security Projects (GGP) and is also part of the Embassy and Consul-General’s effort to support the peace and development in Mindanao under the program, the Japan-Bangsamoro Initiatives for Reconstruction and Development (J-BIRD)1.
In the Province of South Cotabato, due to budget limitations, the installation of water systems has yet to be done in many areas wherein residents do not have access to safe and clean potable water. The Municipality of Tupi had one of the lowest rates of access to safe potable water in the province. In several sitios of Barangay Kablon, Tupi, it takes as much as two hours to fetch water on foot and the water that the residents walked so long to fetch is not even safe to drink. As a result, every year, approximately 10% of the residents suffer from conditions such as diarrhea and skin diseases, which can be commonly attributed to drinking unsafe water.
To address this issue, the Embassy of Japan has provided a grant amount of USD 75,149 or approximately PHP 4.0 million2 to the Provincial Government of South Cotabato. The grant covered the construction of Level II water system in three sitios in Barangay Kablon, Tupi. In his message during the ceremony, Consul-General ISHIKAWA expressed his hope that residents of the sitios are now free from worries of contracting water-borne diseases as well as the physical burden and time consumed in fetching water from far away. He further expressed his hope for future community development in the areas as the residents can now allocate their time to more productive activities.
As the top ODA donor for the Philippines, the Government of Japan launched the GGP scheme in the Philippines in 1989 to reduce poverty and help various communities engage in grassroots activities. At present, 553 grassroots projects have been implemented by the GGP. Japan believes that these projects will strengthen the friendship between Japan and the Philippines and contribute to sustaining strategic partnerships between the two countries.
[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, Former 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
[2] Grant Amount: USD 75,149; Dollar Rate 1 USD = PHP 52.3 (as of June 14, 2019)