RP gives $1m worth of drugs

JAKARTA (JP): The Philippine government pledged yesterday to provide US$1 million worth of medicine to help Indonesia cope with severe drug shortages.

Philippine Foreign Minister Domingo Siazon said the relief aid was a "sign of moral solidarity" for the Indonesian people bearing the brunt of the economic crisis, adding that Jakarta had helped his nation in the past.

Siazon recalled how Indonesia had helped the Philippines when the latter faced shortages of crude oil and rice in the 1980s. Jakarta also played a crucial role in mediating in peace talks between the Moro National Liberation Front and Manila. The two parties signed a historic peace agreement in September 1996.

"We are family and if we face a problem we do try to cooperate and support each other," Siazon said after paying a courtesy call on President Soeharto at the latter's private residence on Jl. Cendana, Central Jakarta.

Indonesia is facing a scarcity of medicines as their prices have skyrocketed in the last few months.

It has already received assistance from other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Singapore provided a US$5 billion bilateral loan to Indonesia as a part of the $43 billion rescue package launched by the International Monetary Fund.

Brunei pledged a $1.2 billion loan and Malaysia promised $1 billion. Thailand promised earlier this month to donate 5,000 tons of rice and one million baht (US$20,000) worth of medicine as a token of solidarity.

The President also received a message from President Fidel Ramos in which the latter expressed his full confidence in Soeharto's ability to deal with Indonesia's economic turmoil. (prb)