OVER 39,000 families in Negros Occidental, South Cotabato, and Maguindanao del Sur are in need of immediate assistance following flooding caused by incessant rains and thunderstorms in the past days, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said.
Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian ordered the department’s Disaster Response Management Group to dispatch family food packs (FFPs) and other relief goods to flood-affected areas after he received a letter from the Maguindanao del Sur provincial government requesting assistance for the affected families.
The DSWD said 38,512 families from the 12 municipalities in Maguindanao del Sur are “in dire need of support and relief aid from the national government as their houses and belongings were submerged by the floodings” that occurred on September 17.
DSWD Field Office 12 (SOCCSKSARGEN) regional director Loreto Cabaya Jr. said 43,000 boxes of family food packs were dispatched to the affected areas in Maguindanao del Sur.
The DSWD said among those affected by floods were the municipalities of Pigcawayan, Midsayap and Aleosan in Cotabato province last September 19. Flooding was also reported on September 17 in Lambayong in Sultan Kudarat that affected 441 families or 1,399 individuals.
DSWD data also showed that 1,451 families or 7,255 persons were affected by flooding in Tantangan in South Cotabato. Of the total, 230 families sought temporary shelter at the New Iloilo Gym in Tantangan, South Cotabato.
