Manila, Philippines – Malacañang on Wednesday said there is nothing wrong with the $1-million pledged donation of the Philippines to Japan amid the damages brought by typhoon “Pedring” to the country, saying that the Philippines has enough funds for its disaster and relief operations.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said that there is nothing wrong with helping other countries in need, noting that Japan has been assisting the country when it was reeling from disasters.
“We have enough funds to help assist the local governments that have been affected,” Valte said.
“Second point, Japan has been very generous to us in the past few decades and ‘yung pagbibigay ng assistance na ‘yun galing sa ating mga Pilipino, pagpapakita ng ating pakikiisa dahil sa dalawang tragedyang pinagdaanan nila [and the assistance from Filipinos is a gesture of our unity following the two tragedies they have encountered],” she said.
Valte said the $1-million pledged donation from the Philippines was very well appreciated by the Japanese.
“We should not begrudge ‘yung pagtulong sa ibang bansa dahil tumutulong din sila sa mga kababayan natin [We should not begrudge our assistance to other countries because they also assist our fellow Filipinos],” she said.
The $1-million pledged donation seeks to rebuild Ishinomaki City in Miyagi prefecture which was damaged during the earthquake and tsunami last March 11. (Madel R. Sabater)