The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has prepositioned 3 million boxes of family food packs (FFPs) in 938 warehouses across the country as it braces for incoming storms with the onset of the rainy season.
Secretary Rex Gatchalian had earlier directed the DSWD’s Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG) to ensure that FFPs in the regions that are prone to storms and flooding are constantly replenished for adequate, prompt and efficient disaster response operations.
“Utos ng Pangulo na siguraduhin ang kaligtasan at kapanatagan ng mga Pilipinong madalas maapektuhan ng mga bagyo at iba pang kalamidad. Ipinapatupad ng DSWD ang Buong Bansa Handa kaya may 3M tayong stockpile ng FFPs para sa mabilis at episyenteng disaster response operations,” Secretary Gatchalian said in Friday (June 6).
The DSWD’s disaster preparedness under the ‘Buong Bansa Hand’ (BBH) program is based on the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr for fail-safe mechanisms in the country’s supply chains during times of calamities.
The agency’s BBH program is a whole-of-nation and whole-of-government approach that synergizes government and private sector resources, thus enabling the government to respond more swiftly and comprehensively to natural calamities while safeguarding the well-being the affected families and individuals.
A Low Pressure Area has been spotted North East of Mindanao and it’s trough is expected to bring cloudy skies, scattered rains and thunderstorms over Eastern Samar, Leyte, Southern Leyte, Dinagat Islands, and Surigao del Norte.
According to the state weather bureau PAGASA, the LPA is expected to enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) within the next 24-48 hrs. While there is a slim chance for tropical cyclone development, it is expected to enhance the South West monsoon as it moves towards the Eastern coasts of the country.
“This will result to heavy rains over the Western sections of the Visayas and Luzon due to enhanced SW monsoon while the LPA will bring heavy rains over Eastern Visayas and Bicol Region towards the weekend,” the PAGASA reported.#