Following the onslaught of Typhoon ‘Marce’, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) deployed its Field Offices’ (FOs) Mobile Command Centers (MCC) in Regions 1 (Ilocos Region), 2 (Cagayan Valley), and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) to boost the agency’s post-disaster operations, particularly in severely-affected communities.
“Our Field Offices in the Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, and CAR have deployed their command centers particularly in areas that sustained most of the damage of Typhoon Marce,” Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG) Asst. Secretary Irene Dumlao, who is also the DSWD spokesperson, said on Saturday (November 9).
The mobile communications centers, manned by an MCC deployment team, is tasked with ensuring continuous, effective, reliable, and timely emergency telecommunications support on different disaster reports and relief inventory.
The FO-CAR command center now stationed in Apayao province is also being used by affected locals to secure a WIFI connection and charge up their devices, according to Asst. Secretary Dumlao.
“Our MCC also houses surveillance and communication devices, power supply and other electronic equipment. We were informed na nagagamit rin talaga ito ng mga nearby evacuees and affected families kung saan ito naka-station,” the DSWD spokesperson explained.
Based on the November 9 Disaster Response Operations Management, Information and Communication (DROMIC) report, the DSWD has so far provided Php11.436 million worth of humanitarian assistance to Regions 1 (Ilocos Region), 2 (Cagayan Valley), and 3 (Central Luzon) which reported the highest number of Marce-affected families.
This amount covers FFPs, bottled waters, as well as non-food items such as family and kitchen kits including tents that were distributed to families displaced by the widespread flooding and strong rain and winds caused by Marce.
The DRMG official also reported that relief aid immediately reached the municipality of Sta. Ana and Sanchez Mira, where Marce made its landfalls as it passed through the province of Cagayan.
“In Sanchez Mira, we have already distributed relief packs to each of the 413 affected families. Nakapagbigay na rin tayo sa Sta. Ana at karatig na mga bayan sa Appari at Claveria. Our FO 2 Assistant Regional Director Franco personally visited these areas to monitor the status of affected families, as well as their immediate needs,” Asst. Secretary Dumlao said.
A total of 1,400 family food packs from the DSWD’s warehouse in Abulog, Cagayan were also loaded into a delivery truck bound for Sta. Praxedes on Friday night to cover for the food needs of Marce-hit families in the municipality and nearby areas.
DSWD FO-1 personnel visited an evacuation center in the island barangay of Mindoro in Bangar town in La Union to distribute FFPs to 170 internally displaced families.
According to Asst. Secretary Dumlao, the agency expects an uptick in the amount of relief assistance in the coming days as more comprehensive reports on the impact of Marce comes in.
“We foresee na tataas pa ang ire-release nating resource augmentation sa ating mga apektadong local government units (LGUs). Through our regional heads, personnel and other local response groups, we are non-stop in ensuring that all affected families will be provided with relief assistance,” the DRMG official explained. (LSJ)
