By Alithea De Jesus
Photos from the Korean Embassy Manila
Proving once again the long-standing friendship with the Philippines, the South Korean government donated high-quality medical supplies to the Philippines as part of their support in the fight against COVID-19.
There are KF94 masks worth around USD500,000 (approximately PHP24.6 million), and seven walk-through COVID19 testing booths worth USD150,000 (approximately PHP7.3 million) courtesy of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), 1,000 face shields from the Korean Embassy and T&B Company, a Korean firm, and COVID-19 diagnostic kits worth $100,000 for 10,000 tests from SD Biosensor from another Korean company.
In the turnover ceremony, the Korean Government, Ambassador HAN Dong-man led the hand over to the Philippine Government, represented by Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr.
Joining the turnover ceremony were the Department of Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for Asia and Pacific Affairs Meynardo LB. Montealegre, Department of Health Undersecretary Ma. Carolina Vidal-Taiño, and Office of Civil Defense Deputy Administrator Assistant Secretary Casiano Monilla, Minister Counsellor Sunyoung Kim and First Secretary Seah Park of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea, along with a local representative of SD Biosensor (Butch Lopez of Zafire Distributors Inc.) and KOTRA Manila Director-General Sanghoon Ko.
Ambassador HAN underscored that the Korean Government in Seoul, Korean companies, and the Korean Embassy in the Philippines have put together efforts to provide the above humanitarian assistance to aid the Philippine Government’s combat on the ongoing spread of the COVID-19 and to further deepen Korea-Philippines bilateral relations.
In response to the generosity of the Korean government, Secretary Locsin expressed deep gratitude to the Korean Government and companies’ continued active humanitarian assistance to help the Philippines address the COVID-19 situation.
The above humanitarian assistance follows the Korean Government’s US$500,000 worth COVID-19 diagnostic kits in April this year. In addition, the Korean Government is also in the process of providing separate additional humanitarian assistance to the Philippines worth US$500,000 from the Korea-ASEAN Cooperation Fund in the coming weeks. The assistance via this fund will be in the form of diagnostic kits, PCR and DNA extraction equipment, and personal protective equipment.
Korea continues to stand in solidarity with the Philippines in its shared battle against the COVID19 global pandemic.