The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and local government units (LGUs) in Region XII which are experiencing drought due to the El Niño phenomenon have strengthened their collaborative efforts to speed up delivery of assistance to affected families.
DSWD-Field Office XII Regional Director Bai Zorahayda Taha met on Tuesday with North Cotabato Govenor Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza and Kidapawan City Mayor Joseph Evangelista to identify areas of collaboration. They agreed that DSWD-Field Office XII will extend food assistance for 150,000 families in the province with an estimated requirement of 15,000 bags of NFA rice at five kilos per family for April.
The distribution of food assistance shall be coursed through the Provincial/City/Municipal Social Welfare Development Office (P/C/MSWDO) of each area.
Field Office XII remains in close coordination with the P/C/MSWDO of North Cotabato for the immediate release of rice allocation per LGU.
In addition, the Field Office will also provide burial assistance amounting to P5,000 each for the two bereaved families of the farmers who died, and P3,000 each for families with injured family member during the incident in Kidapawan City.
DSWD is also providing psycho-social support to emotionally disturbed rallyists. The DSWD, through its Field Office in SOCCSKSARGEN, will also extend P1,000 each as “balik-barrio” assistance.
On the other hand, the provincial LGU of North Cotabato will extend food assistance for the month of May.
Interventions in other areas
In other drought-hit LGUs, validation and assessment of affected famers in Siayan, Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga City is ongoing.
DSWD Field Office- IX is also coordinating with the PSWDO in Basilan in the Autonomous Region in Mindanao (ARMM) for the list of names in the affected municipalities.
In Davao Region, DSWD-Field Office XI provided an initial 2,000 family food packs amounting to P774,000 to Davao del Sur; 1,000 packs amounting to P387,000 to Compostela Valley; and, 1,000 packs worth P387,000 to Davao del Norte.
In CARAGA, the DSWD-Field Office here is continuously coordinating with the Regional Disaster Response Committee and Inter-Agency Monitoring of the Roadmap to Address the Impact of El Niño (RAIN) on the updates regarding the calamity.
The Field Office has prepositioned a total of 5,000 family food packs in LGUs located in strategic areas.
Another 6,859 FFPs are available at the DSWD Regional Bodega located at DPWH Equipment Service in Tiniwisan, Butuan City, and 1,000 packs at the PSWDO in Tandag, Surigao del Sur. These can be delivered to requesting LGUs anytime.
Total aid
To date, the DSWD has released a total of P1,270,645,194.13 worth of assistance to LGUs for families affected by the prolonged period of low rainfall in Regions NCR, I, II, III, IV-A, IV-B, VI, VII, X, XI XII and ARMM. The amount includes the cost of family food packs, hygiene kits, and the implementation of Cash-for-Work funded under the Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation (CCAM) and Quick Response Funds of the Department.
As of today, a total of 139,996 families or 695,345 persons from Regions VI, X, XII, and ARMM have been affected by El Niño. ###
