The Japanese government has recently granted Philippine local government units and a civic group a total of P13.27-million funds to build classrooms and acquire medical equipment in three provincial areas in Luzon and Visayas regions.

Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Kazuhiko Koshikawa and Filipino representatives on Wednesday signed contracts for three new grant assistances for grassroots projects.

"Though smaller in scale compared to the other schemes, the sizing enables us to tailor our grant assistance for grassroots projects to the evolving needs of the people in the communities. This makes a substantial stride in empowering local communities," Koshikawa said.

The first project is the construction of four classrooms with toilet rooms at Anoyon High School in the Municipality of Valencia in Bohol. The P5.3-million project will benefit at least 130 students in Grade 7 to 10.