Medical equipment vital to the Philippines' coronavirus pandemic response such as intensive care unit beds and vaccine cold storage units were recently donated by the United States (US) to the country.
The US military handed over the donation amounting to P2.075 million ($40,914) to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Oct. 25, the US Embassy in the Philippines said Tuesday, Oct. 26.
This came after the same donation, which was provided by the US Indo-Pacific Command, was made in Palawan on Oct. 19.
“The AFP is grateful to the United States government for the donations, which will surely enhance our capacity to afford our military personnel and their dependents the best healthcare services that we can provide,” AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Jose Faustino Jr. said.
According to Acting Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) of the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines David Gamble, the U.S. government’s latest donation is part of a larger assistance that provides ICU beds, essential protective equipment, and vaccine cold storage units for rapid distribution to support COVID-19 efforts in high-risk areas across the country.
“This is just another step in our long partnership as treaty allies that has been going strong for 70 years. We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Philippines and the AFP in this fight against COVID-19,” Gamble said.
To date, the United States has provided more than P1.9 billion ($37.47 million) to support the Philippines’ COVID-19 response.
The Philippines is the United States’ oldest treaty ally in Asia. The joint U.S.-Philippine partnership builds on decades of bilateral military cooperation in humanitarian assistance and disaster response, counterterrorism, maritime security, and many other fields.