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(From left) DSWD Social Marketing Service Director Cezario Joel Espejo, Health Secretary Enrique T. Ona, Bohol Governor Edgar M. Chatto, USAID Philippine Mission Director Gloria Steele, and USAID Regional Adviser Ben Hemingway show sample of hygiene kits donated by the United States Government for earthquake victims.
(From left) DSWD Social Marketing Service Director Cezario Joel Espejo, Health Secretary Enrique T. Ona, Bohol Governor Edgar M. Chatto, USAID Philippine Mission Director Gloria Steele, and USAID Regional Adviser Ben Hemingway show sample of hygiene kits donated by the United States Government for earthquake victims.

Tagbilaran City, Bohol – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the provincial government of Bohol recently received assistance for earthquake-stricken areas in the province in the form of 6,000 units of hygiene kits from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) during the turnover ceremony held at the People’s Mansion.

At the said turnover were USAID Mission Director Gloria Steele, USAID Regional Adviser Ben Hemingway, Gov. Ed Chatto, Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Enrique Ona, and DSWD Director for Social Marketing Cezario Joel Espejo.

Each hygiene kit contains five pieces of toothbrushes, a 75-ml tube of toothpaste, a 120-ml bottle of shampoo, three 90-g bath soaps, three 400-g laundry soaps, 20 pieces of sanitary napkins, 2 combs, and a nail cutter.

In his message, Gov. Chatto thanked Dir. Steele and the USAID family who are always part of Bohol’s development since the time they set foot on the Boholano soil years ago.

“I am so happy USAID is here with us in good times and in bad times,” Gov. Chatto said.Moreover, DSWD Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman expressed her gratitude to USAID and other international humanitarian aid partners for helping the country cope with the devastating effects of the earthquake.”USAID has always been our partner in providing assistance to victims of disasters,” she said.

She added that DSWD is closely coordinating with the local government units and other partner organizations to continue to provide quick responses to the affected families that need food and non-food relief assistance.

Through the World Food Programme, USAID has also been providing logistical assistance to DSWD.

Two US military water purification units were also transported to Bohol and are now being operated by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) engineers to produce fresh drinking water for the families in the earthquake-hit towns.

Over the past five years, the United States, through USAID, has provided a total of P3.4 billion in humanitarian assistance to help the Philippines prepare for and respond to the disasters that hit the country.#