Department of Social Welfare and Development Secretary (DSWD) Rolando Joselito D. Bautista (left) inspects the evacuation center in Bagong Silangan Elementary School
Department of Social Welfare and Development Secretary (DSWD) Rolando Joselito D. Bautista (left) inspects the evacuation center in Bagong Silangan Elementary School.

As head of the Camp Coordination and Camp Management Cluster of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rolando Joselito D. Bautista visited evacuation centers in the National Capital Region following the onslaught of Typhoon Ulysses on November 12.

During his rounds, the Secretary  checked on the condition of evacuation centers ensuring that these are properly managed, have established child- and women-friendly spaces, and adhered to the minimum heath standards during the pandemic.

Meanwhile, being also the head of the Food and Non-Food Cluster, Secretary Bautista ensured the sufficiency of relief supplies as he led the distribution of initial assistance to affected residents in the region.

He spearheaded the distribution of around 1,000 Family Food Packs (FFPs) for families in Barangay Silangan, Quezon City and 1,400 FFPs and 400 sleeping kits to evacuees in Barangka Elementary School in Marikina City. He was joined by personnel of the DSWD Field Office (FO) National Capital Region (NCR) led by Regional Director Vicente Gregorio Tomas.

Aside from extending relief aid, Secretary Bautista also met with ground commanders of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to check the status of the rescue operations in Provident Village, Marikina City. Likewise, he conducted a ground survey of the extent of the damages brought by the massive flooding in the city.

In a related development, in Southern Tagalog Region, DSWD Assistant Secretary Rodolfo Encabo inspected the warehouses of DSWD FO CALABARZON to ensure the availability of stockpile in the region.

To date, more than 96,000 families or more than 350,000 individuals were affected in 1,757 barangays in Regions NCR, I, II, III, CALABARZON, MIMAROPA, V and CAR.

DSWD has already augmented assistance worth P3.9 million to Regions I, II, and V to ensure the immediate provision of relief assistance to families who were affected by the flooding and heavy rains brought by Typhoon Ulysses.

The Department remains in red alert status as it continues its monitoring and provision of assistance to affected localities. ###