QUEZON CITY (PIA) — The humanitarian assistance especially food and non-food items (FNFIs) distributed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to areas hit by tropical storm Kristine (Trami) has already reached over P55 million in worth as of Oct. 24, as the agency assured that it is ready to provide more assistance to the affected.
Based on the 6 a.m. Oct. 24 report of the DSWD Disaster Response Operations Management, Information and Communications (DROMIC), the department has so far distributed over P55 million in humanitarian assistance.
The recipients of the assistance included Regions 1 (Ilocos Region) 2 (Cagayan Valley) 3 (Central Luzon) Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), 4-A (CALABARZON), 4-B (MIMAROPA), 5 (Bicol Region), 6 (Western Visayas), 7 (Central Visayas), 8 (Eastern Visayas), 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula), 10 (Northern Mindanao), 12 (SOCCSKSARGEN) and in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian assured that the agency has enough supplies to provide continuous relief support to local government units (LGUs) battered by the storm.
He emphasized the role of the DSWD as the agency tasked with ensuring that the LGUs have sufficient relief resources since they are the first responders during disasters and calamities.
“The DSWD’s mandate is to ensure enough relief resources for distribution to the affected areas,” Gatchalian said.
He noted that the DSWD prepositioned the relief assistance in its warehouses in the regions even before the storm hit.
“In Bicol alone, we had 170K family food packs (FFPs),” the DSWD chief said.
Gatchalian said the LGUs of Bicol have so far picked up their requests for 50,000 boxes of family food packs from the agency’s Field Office 5 to support their relief operations for their respective constituents.
Meanwhile, DSWD Region 2 Field Office (FO) – Cagayan Valley reported that it has enough relief supplies for disaster-affected families, noting TS Kristine’s landfall over Isabela. The FO 2 covers the provinces of Cagayan, Quirino, Isabela, Batanes, and Nueva Vizcaya.
The FO 3 – Central Luzon also said it activated its Quick Response Teams to accommodate the requests for assistance to a total of 2,905 affected families in the areas of Aurora, Bataan, and Bulacan. The LGU of Dingalan also requested 1,300 FFPs for their fishermen who were not able to go fishing for three days due to the storm, it added. It further said they have enough stocks of goods for distribution to the affected. (PIA DMD)
