The Philippine government will express its gratitude for Taiwan’s assistance and support in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, which swept through the Southeast Asian country in November last year, at an upcoming celebration in Taipei, the Philippines’ representative to Taiwan said.
The theme of the June 12 event to celebrate the Philippines’ national day will be to express the country’s gratitude to “the Taiwanese people for their generosity and their compassion” in helping with relief and reconstruction efforts following the typhoon, Manila Economic and Cultural Office Managing Director Antonio Basilio said in a recent interview.
The office will also send letters of gratitude to the Taiwanese government and non-government organizations for their relief assistance, said Basilio, who has been posted in Taiwan since 2005.
Meanwhile, the office is planning to make announcements in local newspapers near the time of the national day to express gratitude for Taiwan’s post-disaster assistance, he added.
Last year, public and private donors in Taiwan gave more than NT$300 million (US$10.13 million) in supplies and other aid to the Philippines after the typhoon struck on Nov. 8 last year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The amount included a US$200,000 cash donation by the government, it said.
Another NT$22.38 million was later collected from Taiwanese individuals and businesses, the ministry added.
In the weeks after the storm ripped through the country, a Taiwanese navy vessel delivered 530 tonnes of supplies to the Philippines, while military transport planes carried 150 tonnes of supplies.
Haiyan, called Yolanda in the Philippines, left at least 6,300 people dead, 28,689 injured, 1,061 missing and more than 4 million displaced as of April 17, according to data from the Philippines’ National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
The office canceled the Philippines’ National Day celebration in Taiwan last year following the shooting death of a Taiwanese fisherman by the Philippine Coast Guard on May 9.
The fisherman was aboard a Taiwanese fishing boat that was operating in the overlapping exclusive economic zones of the two countries.
The shooting strained bilateral ties, but ties between the two countries were normalized in August last year, after the Philippines met Taiwan’s demands — offering a formal apology, punishing those responsible, making compensation to the victim’s family and starting talks on bilateral fishery cooperation.
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