The Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Field Office 2-Cagayan Valley has initially provided 250 family food packs (FFPs) and 250 non-food items (NFIs) to residents of the coastal town of Maconacon in Isabela province who were evacuated as Typhoon Marce trails Northern Luzon.
Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG) Asst. Secretary Irene Dumlao, who is also the DSWD spokesperson, said the relief aid was swiftly distributed to a total of 250 families who are currently staying in eight open evacuation centers in nearby areas.
“Based on our 6:00 a.m. report, 250 FFPs have already been released by Field Office 2 particularly in Maconacon, Isabela dahil meron na pong mga na-evacuate doon na mga affected populations,” Asst. Secretary Dumlao told reporters at the Thursday Media Forum on November 7 at the New Press Center in the DSWD’s Central Office in Quezon City,
From the same report, a total of 1,133 families or 3,275 individuals have been affected by Typhoon Marce across the Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).
Asst. Secretary Dumlao assured reporters that the agency has over 220,000 boxes of FFPs which have been prepositioned in its storage facilities in the three regions, ready to augment the resources of local government units (LGUs) for their disaster response.
The DRMG official said that despite the on-going disaster response for Kristine and Leon, the agency has an available national stockpile of 1,338,604 boxes of FFPs strategically prepositioned across its hubs, spokes, and last-mile facilities.
Under the directive of Secretary Rex Gatchalian, the Department has fully activated the hubs in Central Luzon to bolster the production of relief supplies and ease the delivery of aid in nearby-areas that also bore the brunt of the recent weather disturbances.
“Nagdagdag din tayo ng production hubs dito sa Central Luzon para madagdagan yung mga family food packs na pino-produce sa NROC at mas mapabilis pa yung paghahatid ng karagdagang tulong dito sa Regions 1,2, and again, CAR,” Asst. Secretary Dumlao pointed out.
On-going response for Kristine, Leon
In the same forum, Asst. Secretary Dumlao reported that the DSWD has so far extended 1,228,827 boxes of FFPs to families and individuals nationwide who were affected by Kristine and Leon.
“Gayundin po, mahigit na 38,000 na mga non-food items na kinabibilangan po ng mga hygiene, family at sleeping kits ang naipamahagi ng DSWD sa mga apektadong local government units,” the DSWD spokesperson said.
The Department has also disbursed over Php21.6 million in cash aid under the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) and the Ayuda Para sa Kapos Ang Kita Program (AKAP).
The cash assistance, according to the DRMG asst. secretary, was given to the bereaved families of the casualties of the recent weather disturbances, as well as to those whose houses and livelihoods were damaged and compromised. # (LSJ)
