MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines has already received at least $130.4 million worth of financial aid — or over P6.5 billion — intended for the government’s COVID-19 response, the World Health Organization said. However, WHO’s report shows that this P6.5 billion figure does not include loans and grants secured by the Philippines, which has one of the highest recorded cases in Southeast Asia. According to the report, the government was also able to obtain a $1.1 billion loan from the World Bank and $1.5 billion from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) — a total of $2.6 billion, or P129.9 billion. “The French government through its Development Agency AFD donated €2 million to fight COVID-19 in Southeast Asia, including laboratory strengthening support for RITM (Research Institute for Tropical Medicine),” it added. But on Tuesday, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that the country’s COVID-19 loans and grants have already reached $6.508 billion (P325 billion).

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer June 09, 2020 23:26 UTC