The Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the Philippines together with the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines held a Turnover Ceremony on July 27, 2020 in the DFA lobby for Korea’s humanitarian assistance to help the Philippines Government’s COVID-19 response.
In the turnover ceremony, the Korean Government, represented by Ambassador HAN Dong-man, handed over to the Philippine Government, represented by Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr., 600,000 high-quality KF94 masks (worth US$500,000) from the Korean Government, 7 Walk-Through COVID-19 Testing Booths (worth US$150,000) from the Korean Government via the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), 1,000 face shields from the Korean Embassy and T&B Company (Korean company), and COVID-19 diagnostic kits (worth US$100,000 (10,000 tests) from SD Biosensor (Korean company).
Also in attendance during the turnover ceremony were 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, were also present in the ceremony.
Ambassador HAN said 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, 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.
