The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), together with other member-agencies of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC),  sent today, February 27,  a total of P12, 996,000 worth of food packs and non-food items to Albay via its “Hatid Tulong sa Apektado ng Mt. Mayon Eruption Caravan.”

The humanitarian caravan, the first of a series, was organized by the DSWD to mobilize resources for the delivery of additional augmentation assistance to cities and municipalities affected by the volcanic activities of Mayon Volcano.

A fleet of more than thirty trucks from the DSWD, Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police through the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), Department of Transportation (DOTr), World Food Programme (WFP), and Philippine Disaster Resiliency Foundation (PDRF) carrying 36,100 food packs left the Department’s National Resource Operations Center (NROC) in Pasay City at 1 pm.  It is expected to arrive in the Municipality of Guinobatan tomorrow, February 28.

Upon arrival in Guinabotan, the trucks will converge at the Guinobatan Stadium for the turnover of the relief assistance to the affected local government units (LGUs), which will then manage the delivery of the relief goods to the established evacuation centers in their respective cities and municipalities for subsequent distribution to the affected families.

Overall, the DSWD-Disaster Response Assistance and Management Bureau (DReAMB) is targeting to deliver a total of 458,250 additional food packs to Albay.

The delivery of the relief goods will continue until all the required food and non-food items have been sent to all affected LGUs for proper management and distribution.

DSWD Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Emmanuel A. Leyco, who led the send-off of the goods from NROC together with NDRRMC Executive Director Undersecretary Ricardo B. Jalad and Assistant Secretary Eymard D. Eje of Department of Transportation, said the caravan reflects the ‘bayanihan’ of NDRRMC member-agencies to ensure the continuous provision of relief assistance to Albay residents who have been staying at evacuation centers for more than a month now due to the Phreatomagmatic Eruption of Mayon.

“Despite our limited logistical resources, the DSWD is doing its best to continuously fulfill its mandate of responding to the needs of families who have been affected by disasters,” OIC Leyco said.

“We would want to have a swift  delivery of relief assistance to families in need. This is why we have been partnering and working closely with other national government agencies and non-government organizations in terms of logistics to continuously send aid to our fellow citizens in need,” he added.

Based on the latest report of the DSWD-Disaster Response Operations, Management, and Information Center (DROMIC), some 16,106 families or 61,886 individuals are still taking temporary shelter in 57 evacuation centers in Albay due to the Phreatomagmatic Eruption of Mayon Volcano. ###