Japan donates refrigerated delivery truck to Ilocos Norte cooperative
Japan will donate a refrigerated delivery truck to an agricultural cooperative in Ilocos Norte under its government's Grant Assistance for Grass-Roots Human Security Project (GGP).
The P2,605,892 worth of grant that will be used to purchase the refrigerated truck was signed Japan Ambassador to the Philippines Kazuhiko Koshikawa and Bacarra Multi-Purpose Cooperative Chairperson Primerose Maglal-lan during the ceremony at the ambassador's residence in Makati on Thursday.
The event was also witnessed by Ilocos Norte Governor Matthew Marcos Manotoc other embassy officials and the members of the Bacarra Multi-Purpose Cooperative.
In his remark, Koshikawa said the grant hopes to help improve the income of the small-scale Filipino farmers in Ilocos Norte.
"We hope this kind of project of procuring a refrigerated delivery truck for the Bacarra Multi-Purpose Cooperative will bring successful results and prove that the delivery of fresh and high quality products to the consumer can make significant contributions to improving farmers incomes," he said.
According to the Japanese embassy, the acquisition of refrigerated delivery trucks for the Bacarra Multi-Purpose Cooperative is the 562nd grant under the GGP of the Japanese government.
Under the project, a 118-footer refrigerated delivery truck will be procured "to enhance the quality of produce and supply operations, expand market access to the food value chain and ultimately increase farmers income in Ilocos Norte."
In an interview with the Daily Manila Shimbun, Jonalyn Agbayani Macalipis, general manager of Bacarra Multi-Purpose Cooperative emphasized how the grant will help the farmers in their province.
"On behalf of the Bacarra Multi-Purpose Cooperative we are so thankful to the Japan Embassy. Through this project the GGP is a big help for our cooperative farmers to deliver their products to our institutional markets and other buyers and traders," she said.
"We are thankful because we were able to help our cooperative members to transport their product from Ilocos Norte," she added.
Macalipis said the refrigerated truck will have a capacity of 8,500 kilos and the farmer will have to pay three pesos per kilo of their products that will be sold to the market or a total of P25,500 for the 8,500 kilos capacity.
She said the P25,000 will be used to cover the expenses for gasoline, payment for the driver and helper, maintenance of the vehicle and the toll fee.
"It will be a big help for the farmers because usually we rent a truck for 40,000 to 45,000 pesos to transport our goods," she added. Robina Asido/DMS
