Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian on Friday (July 18) said the agency’s Field Offices (FO) across the country will continue to be on guard for a synchronized disaster response amid the two weather systems— Tropical Cyclone Crising and the southwest monsoon or habagat— prevailing in the country.
“Kasi yung Bagyong Crising, yung hilaga ang tatamaan pero yung habagat nasa west side ng Pilipinas. So, importante na sabay sabay ’yung pag-responde ng ating field offices,” Secretary Gatchalian told reporters shortly before the site visit of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr at the National Resource Operations Center (NROC), the DSWD’s main disaster response hub in Pasay City.
The DSWD chief said all the FOs are ready to provide relief aid to families that will bear the brunt of these twin weather systems.
Based on the latest report of the Disaster Response Operations Management, Information and Communication (DROMIC), a total of 5,022 families or 17,694 persons in 142 barangays in Regions 4-A (MIMAROPA), 6 (Western Visayas), 7 (Central Visayas), and 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula) have been affected by heavy rains.
The DSWD has already distributed Php744,539-worth of family food packs (FFPs) and non-food items (NFIs) as initial aid to 1,000 disaster-hit families in Antique; 25 in Capiz; and 177 in Negros Occidental, all in Western Visayas.
Members of the FOs’ Quick Response Teams (QRTs), as well as emergency logistics equipment, are on standby for immediate deployment as necessary, particularly in the FOs in MIMAROPA, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, and Zamboanga Peninsula.
Secretary Gatchalian reiterated that the agency has prepositioned more than 3 million boxes of FFPs ahead of ‘Crising’ and production of food packs continues at the DSWD’s main disaster hubs —the NROC and the Visayas Disaster Response Center (VDRC) in Mandaue City, in Cebu province.
While giving immediate relief is on top priority of the agency, the DSWD is also prepared to disburse financial aid to support the affected-families with their other needs and to help them in their early recovery.
“Ang ating Pangulong Marcos lagi niyang sinasabi, pauna yung pagkain pero pagkatapos ng una at pangalawang araw importanteng pumapasok na ang DSWD pagdating sa financial assistance,” Secretary Gatchalian told reporters. (LSJ)