SOCIAL Welfare Secretary Erwin Tulfo yesterday asked local government executives to help the field offices of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in their pre-disaster preparations by lending their warehouses for the prepositioning of family food packs (FFPs) and non-food relief items (NFRIs).
In an interview, Tulfo said President Marcos Jr. wants his government to be “proactive rather than reactive” in times of calamities, which he said means “serbisyo nariyan agad, hindi late o delayed (immediate services, not late or delayed).”
Tulfo said the DSWD has been experiencing storage problems since it does not have its own warehouse or facility to accommodate the FFPs and NFRIs.
He said this was what happened in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) where the food and relief packs delivered by the agency were placed in an LGU warehouse where donations from the private sector and non-governmental organizations were also kept.Tulfo said as part of its disaster response operations, its field offices are doing continuous delivery and prepositioning of FFPs and NFRIs nationwide.
He said he is also set to meet with the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council within the week to discuss how to improve the delivery of services and ensure immediate response during calamities and disasters.
As this developed, the DSWD said it continues to deliver and distribute food packs to families and individuals affected by the flood and landslide incidents caused by the southwest monsoon in the CAR, Central Luzon, Western Visayas, and Central Visayas.
It added it has also started distributing relief packages to victims of a recent fire incident in Cebu City.
DSWD records show that as of July 9, DSWD FO III in Central Luzon has identified one family affected by a landslide in Barangay Gabon, Abucay in Bataan and delivered two FFPs, a hygiene kit, a family kit, a sleeping kit, and provided a P10,000 burial assistance to the bereaved family of the landslide victim.
The DSWD FO in CAR, meanwhile, provided 1,500 FFPs amounting to P940,999 and laminated sacks worth P7,300 which benefitted 1,052 families or 3,156 individuals who were affected by the flash floods in Banaue, Ifugao.
Tulfo said the DSWD is also distributing non-food items like family tents, sleeping kits, hygiene kits, blankets, cooking pans and utensils to affected families.
The DSWD FO VI in Western Visayas has also distributed 57 FFPs and 57 hygiene kits amounting to P111,577 to 57 families or 285 individuals affected by the flooding incident in Barangay Tigbalua I, Sibalom in Antique. On the other hand, the DSWD FO VII in Central Visayas distributed food and non-food items to 96 families affected by the fire last July 7 in Cebu City. Fire victims will be provided with financial assistance, psychosocial support, and other assistance through the Department’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS).
