Over 60 countries give aid to Yolanda victims

MANILA, Philippines - From A to Z – or A to W to be exact – the world showed the Philippines it was not alone in dealing with tragedies, as more than 60 countries and foreign organizations pledged and donated assistance to the government in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Yolanda.

Based on the website Foreign Aid Transparency Hub (FAiTH), put up by the government to ensure transparency in the use of foreign assistance, foreign aid pledged now amounted to P23,798,036,069.08 ($538,978,033).

Cash pledges total P2,800,149,541.20 ($63,417,800) while non-cash amount to P20,997,886,527.88 ($475,560,233).

Total cash received by government was P592,580,631.40 ($12,337,478).

The countries and organizations that donated were: Algeria, Arab Gulf Fund for UN Development (AGFUND), Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, European Union/European Commission, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Laos, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macau and Malaysia;

Marshall Islands, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), the Vatican, Vietnam and World Food Program.

The full details of the various assistance given can be monitored on the FAiTH website.

When he was in Japan early December to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-Japan commemorative summit, President Aquino was also conferred an honorary doctoral degree in law by the Sophia University.

In his speech he thanked the international community for their assistance.

“Our countries also never fail to come to each other’s aid during times of disaster. Most recently, in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Haiyan, a video made its rounds on the Internet of a young Japanese man engaged in relief operations in Leyte named Shigehiro Matsuda, who was speaking our language with great proficiency. Another video showed news of a Japanese preschooler donating all the money he had saved – a total of 5,000 yen – to the survivors of the typhoon. Needless to say, those gestures touched the hearts of our countrymen in a time of great grief,” Aquino said.

He also recounted what a Japanese sociologist told a member of his Cabinet about the resiliency of Filipinos after a powerful earthquake and tsunami hit Japan.

“The sociologist said that those Filipinos (living in Japan) were living examples of the optimism and resilience inherent in our people. Instead of focusing on their material losses, the Filipinos cheered up and cheered on their fellow residents, and made them thankful for what had survived, which was the community, and the capacity to hope,” Aquino said,