The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)  will distribute next week the P1,000 cash assistance earlier announced by the Department for all validated Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)  from Marawi City, as of June 15, 2017.

DSWD-Field Office X will distribute the cash assistance on June 23 and 24 to families staying in evacuation centers and then to those staying in their friends’ and relatives’ houses in Iligan City and other nearby towns in the region.

For Muslim IDPs, they can use the assistance to purchase more suitable food when they break their fast on the eve of June 26, the end of Ramadan.

As of June 15, the total number of families affected by the Marawi crisis has reached 69,055 or 336,783 individuals. Of this number, 3,527 families or 16,981 persons are taking shelter in 82 evacuation centers, while 59,712 families or 291,003 individuals are staying with their relatives or friends in Regions VII, X, XI, XII, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), and Negros Island Region (NIR).

FO X recorded the highest number of IDPs staying in evacuation centers at 2,402 families or 11,102 persons. Home-based evacuees in the region, or those families staying with their relatives or friends, was recorded at 20,912 or 97,433 individuals, as of June 15, 2017.

As for the remaining P4,000 cash aid, DSWD Secretary Judy Taguiwalo reiterated, “It will be released to each family when it is already safe for them to return to Marawi. We are also preparing other actions to help them when they resume their lives in their communities – other DSWD programs will be made accessible to them,” she added.  ###