China provides rice to super typhoon-stricken areas in the Philippines

The Chinese government has donated 10,000 tons of rice to the Philippines to help people affected by the Super Typhoon Rai which caused a large number of casualties and property losses in the central and southern regions of the Southeast Asian country.

The rice handover ceremony was held on Dec 22, 2021, with Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian, the Philippines' Department of Social Welfare and Development representative Emmanuel Privado, and the President's special envoy on China Hong Haiping attending the ceremony.

Huang visited a rice storage warehouse and a sub-packaging factory, and delivered family packs of rice to officials and representatives of the typhoon victims.

Huang said Chinese President had sent a message of condolences to Philippines President for the victims and the injured and said China will provide assistance to the Philippines within its capacity. 

This shipment of rice from China totals 4,725 tons, of which 1,500 tons have arrived in Cebu, and 3,225 tons of rice in Manila are being transported to the disaster area in an urgent and orderly manner, according to Huang.

Another remaining 400 tons of rice is also being distributed in Cebu.

Thanks to the unified deployment of the Philippine government, especially the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the rice was able to be delivered as soon as possible to help the victims in need.

China and the Philippines are friendly neighbors who share weal and woe. The Chinese government felt the suffering of the Philippine people, Huang said, adding that the Chinese government decided to provide the Philippines with $1 million dollars in cash for emergency disaster relief.

Previously, the Chinese embassy had rushed to prepare 20,000 food packages worth about 8 million pesos, each containing 5 kilograms of rice, 10 cans of food and 10 packages of instant noodles. 

With the assistance of overseas Chinese associations in the Philippines, these relief materials are being transported to disaster-stricken areas such as Cebu, Leyte, Negros, Bohol, Cagayan de Oro, and Surigao.

Privado expressed his sincere gratitude to China for the timely and generous assistance when the lives of the Philippine people had been impacted by COVID-19 and natural disasters, in particular, the Super Typhoon Rai that caused a large number of homeless victims and food shortages.

China's timely help and powerful support for the Philippine government's disaster relief work reflect the friendly relations between the Philippines and China and the profound friendship between the two peoples, Privado said. 

The Department of Social Welfare and Developmentis making every effort to organize the distribution of disaster relief materials to ensure that the rice can be distributed to the victims as quickly as possible.