Manila Economic and Cultural Office Philippine Representative Office in Taiwan
Manila, Aug. 11 (CNA) Taiwan's government donated US$200,000 to the Philippine province of Abra on Wednesday to help with reconstruction efforts following a powerful earthquake in late July.
At least 11 people were killed and 410 injured after the northern Philippine province was struck by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake on July 27, triggering landslides, toppling buildings, and causing estimated agricultural losses of 287 million pesos (US$5.18 million).
Silvestre Bello III, the Philippines' representative to Taiwan, received the donation from Taiwan's representative in the Philippines Michael Hsu (徐佩勇) at a ceremony in Manila, which was also attended by the Governor of Abra Province Dominic B. Valera.
Varela said during the donation ceremony that he believed Abra would soon get back on its feet with the help of Taiwan's donation.
Bello, head of the Taipei-based Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO), said in an interview with CNA that the country's President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and the Filipino people "express their heartfelt gratitude for the Taiwanese government's goodwill and concern."
Meanwhile, when asked by reporters about MECO's response to increased tensions between Taiwan and China, Bello said contingencies were in place with regards to emergency evacuation, shelter, as well as medicine and food supplies.
However, Bello described the situation for Filipinos in Taiwan as "normal," saying that there had been "no requests for shelter, let alone evacuation."
Beijing launched an unprecedented set of military exercises encircling Taiwan following a visit to the island by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi last week.
source:
(By Angie Chen and Evelyn Kao)
Enditem/ASG
（中央社記者陳妍君馬尼拉10日專電）中華民國駐菲代表處今天捐贈20萬美元（約新台幣600萬元）給菲律賓政府，盼協助7月下旬受強震侵襲的菲國北部艾布拉省災後重建，由菲律賓駐台代表貝世偉代表受贈。
艾布拉省（Abra）7月27日發生芮氏規模7強震，導致11人罹難、410人受傷，並引發山崩和建物毀損，農業損失達2.87億披索（約新台幣1.55億元）。
艾布拉省省長瓦雷拉（Dominic B. Valera）今天出席捐贈儀式見證並致謝。瓦雷拉說，相信艾布拉省可以在台灣捐款協助下重新站起來。
馬尼拉經濟文化辦事處（MECO）主席暨駐台代表貝世偉（Silvestre Bello III）受訪表示：「我們的總統小馬可仕（Ferdinand Marcos Jr.）和菲律賓人民對台灣政府真誠的善意和關懷表示衷心感謝。」
菲國媒體詢問，馬尼拉經文處對台海情勢緊張有何因應、是否擬定急難應變措施。
貝世偉說，MECO「一直以來都有」針對撤僑、避難、藥品和食物的應變計畫。不過，截至目前，從MECO副代表和菲律賓駐台北海外勞工辦公室（POLO）專員的報告看來，「我們的國民在那裡的情況非常正常。截至目前，沒有要求庇護，更沒有要求撤僑，所以一切都很好」。
中華民國駐菲代表徐佩勇告訴菲國媒體，中國在台灣周邊實彈演習，「非常挑釁，非常不負責任，非常危險。我們鄭重呼籲中國理性行事，保持克制」。
徐佩勇說：「在台灣，我們不會草率行事，我們冷靜但不會退縮。我們對建設性對話持開放態度。我們希望看到台海局勢緩和。我們要確保並維持台海和平穩定現狀。」
他表示，台灣有決心維護自由民主和台灣人民，包括菲律賓勞工的安全。
（編輯：高照芬）1110810
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aipl/202208100428.aspx