On February 21, Ambassador Koshikawa Kazuhiko and National Food Authority (NFA) Administrator Judy Carol Dansal jointly welcomed the arrival of 300 metric tons of Japanese rice from Japan, under the ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve (APTERR) initiative at the NFA warehouse.

The rice will be delivered and distributed to Typhoon ''Odette'' affected families in Cebu, Bohol and Surigao del Norte as soon as the approval by the APTERR Council is given to NFA.

During the official inspection of the rice stocks, Ambassador Koshikawa stressed that as its neighbor and friend, Japan fully commits to support the Philippines’ efforts to build back better from the typhoon damage, and this rice assistance is one of our commitments.

“We hope these tons of rice will be delivered soon to nourish typhoon affected families,” he concluded.

APTERR is a regional cooperation started in 2012, which aims to strengthen food security, poverty alleviation and malnourishment eradication among its member countries.

To accomplish its common goal, the APTERR Parties have agreed to establish rice stocks to assist member countries in times of large-scale natural disasters.

In the Philippines, several thousand tons of stockpiled rice from Japan under APTERR were distributed to previous typhoon victims during Typhoon ''Yolanda'' in 2013, Typhoon ''Ineng'' in 2015 and Typhoon ''Jenny'' in 2019, to name a few.

In 2020, Japan also provided 425 metric tons of rice to households affected by the Taal Volcano eruption and last year, pre-cooked rice were distributed to families affected by COVID-19 in Quezon City and the City of Manila as well as selected parts of Bulacan and Cavite under the APTERR. Embassy of Japan-Press