THE Philippines will donate $300,000″•about P16 million”•to Indonesia to help it recover from the Sept. 28 earthquake and tsunami that devastated it and claimed more than 2,000 lives.
Philippine Ambassador to Indonesia Lee Hiong Tan Wee announced the donation in a press conference on Wednesday to reporters in Bali.
The donation will be in cash and in kind, he said.
Wee made his statement even as Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the Philippines will deploy a C-130 aircraft to hasten the delivery of aid to the victims of the magnitude-7.5 earthquake in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Lorenzana said the aircraft will be sent at the request of the Indonesian government for humanitarian assistance.
“There will be two sorties of our C-130. One today and [it will go for] another [trip] on the 15th. By the 15th, the C-130 will stay there for quite some time to help [in] the ferrying of goods,” Lorenzana said.
“The crew of the C-130 will be there unless we are notified that we need to send more.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs earlier said there will be a simple ceremony when President Rodrigo Duterte and Indonesian President Joko Widodo have their bilateral meeting in Indonesia.
Duterte is scheduled to attend the Asean Leaders’ Gathering in Indonesia before attending the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group Annual Meeting in Bali.
The Asean Leaders’ Gathering is expected to show that the 10 Asean leaders are united and the regional international group is a potent force in the world arena.