Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Officer-in-Charge Emmanuel A. Leyco last  Monday, November 13,  expressed his gratitude to Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull who announced the gifting of P60 million (AUD1.5 million) worth of prepositioned relief supplies and associated funds to the Department. The Australian official made the announcement during his visit to the DSWD National Resource Operations Centre (NROC) in Pasay City.

“We welcome the Australian government’s continued support.  With Australia’s assistance, the DSWD has strengthened its disaster response by implementing more efficient systems – and reaching people in need more quickly,” OIC Leyco said.

The prepositioned relief stores are the Australian government’s support to the country’s response to humanitarian crises, including for the Marawi conflict. The supplies include tents, sleeping mats and blankets, mosquito nets, multi-purpose malong, and children’s toys. These can support the immediate requirements of 160,000 people.

The relief stores are part of the P124.9 million (AUD3 million) grant the Australian government provided for a three-year Support Program for Disaster Response, which includes technical assistance from the Australian Civilian Corps adviser.

A part of the grant was also utilized for the construction of a new warehouse in NROC which was inaugurated in November 2016.

The new warehouse has the capacity to store 41,400 family food packs (FFPs) has increased the NROC’s storage capacity to 100,000 FFPs.

The Australian government  has also provided the DSWD with the valuable assistance of setting up systems for more effective responses to disasters and conflict. #