PH Receives COVID-19 Test Kits Donation from Israel

From left: Defense and Armed Forces Attaché Col. Raul Villanueva, Consul General Randy Arquiza Philippine Ambassador to Israel Neal Imperial, Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Yair Kulas, Ms. Nuni Sella (IMOD-SIBAT) on 21 October 2020. (Tel Aviv PE photo)

TEL AVIV 26 October 2020 – Israel, through the Ministry of Defense’s Directorate for International Defense Cooperation (IMOD-SIBAT) announced its donation of 10,000 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) coronavirus tests kits to the Philippine Department of National Defense (DND), in support of the DND’s role in the national government’s efforts to control the spread of COVID-19 in the Philippines. The tests were manufactured by Israeli company Biological Industries (BI), which manufactures test kits for Israel’s Ministry of Health.

Philippine Ambassador to Israel Nathaniel “Neal” G. Imperial, who was invited to view the test kits prior to their packaging and delivery to the Philippines, expressed appreciation for the IMOD-SIBAT’s donation.

“This is a heart-warming and generous gesture, considering that Israel is also currently in the midst of its own efforts to combat COVID-19,” he told Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Yair Kulas, Director of IMOD-SIBAT, during a turnover ceremony held on 21 September. “It is a testament to the strength of Philippine-Israel defense relations, which have gradually deepened and expanded over the past few years and have nurtured close ties of trust and cooperation between our respective defense agencies.”

Col. Raul Villanueva, the Philippine Defense and Armed Forces Attaché to Israel, and Consul General Randy Arquiza joined the Ambassador to witness the turnover of the donation.

Defense and security cooperation between the Philippines and Israel marked a new milestone this year as Israel opened a resident defense office in Manila in July, reciprocating the re-opening of the Philippines’ defense office in Israel in 2014. The two countries entered into a bilateral logistics cooperation agreement in 2010, paving the way for regular dialogues and exchanges on various aspects of defense cooperation.

The DND confirmed that the donation was delivered to the Philippines on 16 October 2020. The Philippines will formally receive the donation in a handover ceremony scheduled for November. END

Col. Villanueva joins Ambassador Imperial in receiving the donation from Brig. Gen. (ret.) Yair Kulas. The donation was coordinated through the Philippine Embassy’s Office of the Defense and Armed Forces Attaché. (Tel Aviv PE photo)

For more information, visit https://www.telavivpe.dfa.gov.ph, https://www.philippine-embassy.org.il or https://www.facebook.com/PHinIsrael/.