THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) yesterday assured the public of the agency’s readiness for relief response and the availability of food and non-food resources for distribution to areas affected by rains brought by the southwest monsoon (habagat) and low-pressure area (LPA) that may affect the country.
The DSWD said it still has over P2.1 billion worth of cash (P78 million) and food and non-food relief items (P2 billion) on standby.
DSWD Assistant Secretary and spokeswoman Irene Dumlao said food packs (FFPs) and non-food relief items have been deployed and augmented in the agency’s warehouses across the country.
“We are maintaining three million prepositioned FFPs in all our warehouses to ensure that they can immediately be distributed to those affected, in accordance with the directive of the President that no one should go hungry during calamities,” Dumlao said.
She said that the DSWD’s field offices in the National Capital Region (NCR), Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Bicol Region, and Eastern Visayas, which are the potential areas to be affected by the continued rains brought by the southwest monsoon and LPA are on high alert and are in constant touch with local government units (LGUs) for any request for resource augmentation.
DSWD assured the public that it still has over P2.1 billion worth of cash (P78 million) and food and non-food relief items (P2 billion) on standby.
The DSWD Disaster Response Management division also reported that as of 6 of p.m. of August 25, a total of 8,607 families or 34,294 persons from 34 barangays in Regions II (Cagayan Valley), V (Bicol), VI (Western Visayas, Negros Island Region (NIR), XII (Soccksargen), Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), and Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) have been affected by the onslaught of tropical storm Isang last week, while 366 families or 1,405 persons from four barangays in Zamboanga City were affected by the rains and flood brought by the southwest monsoon and low pressure area last Monday.
Two families or eight persons affected by Isang are staying in an evacuation center in Camarines Sur, while 366 families or 1,405 persons affected by the habagat are staying in four evacuation centers in Zamboanga City.
More than P2.26 million worth of humanitarian assistance has already been provided in the regions affected by Isang and weather disturbances.
