With Bukidnon declared under a state of  calamity due to El Nino, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Northern Mindanao has engaged the support of  the Diocese of Malaybalay and Lumad leaders  in augmenting DSWD social workers and local social welfare office personnel to ensure the quick distribution of relief goods to families affected by drought in the province.

In a meeting yesterday, DSWD- Field office X Director Nestor Ramos and Bishop Jose A. Cabantan agreed that the Diocese of Malaybalay will provide the venue for the distribution, considering that the religious sector is non-partisan.

Dir. Ramos also met with Bukidnon Governor Jose Maria F. Zubiri Jr.  and discussed ways on how to speed up the provision of food assistance to families affected by drought.

To date,  DSWD-Field Office X has provided 10,614 food packs, worth P2,536,746 to 3,717 families from the towns  of San Fernando and Kibawe in Bukidnon and Claveria in Misamis Oriental.

It has initially started providing 10-kilos of rice per family in San Fernando. Starting April 17, provision was increased to 25-kilos of rice as augmentation to the local government unit.

Help for Lumads

The DSWD- Field Office also provided 2,059 sacks of rice, at 25-kilos each,  to  4,118 Lumad families from San Fernando.

Aside from the direct food aid, the Field Office is also implementing the Cash- for- Work (CFW) to ease the impact of El Nino among the Lumads in Bukidnon and in the provinces of Lanao del Norte, Misamis Oriental, and Misamis Occidental. The programs are being implemented through Lumad leaders.

DSWD Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman, however, explained that the continuation of the provision of rice during the El Nino is on a case to case basis  as there are families whose buying capacity is still adversely affected having no income at all.###