Families who evacuated at the height of Typhoon Rosita have returned to their places of origin and are expected to start anew with the early recovery phase intervention to be provided by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the local government units (LGUs).

As of 12 noon today,  the DSWD-Disaster Response Operations Monitoring and Information Center (DROMIC)  reported that only 15 evacuation centers are open providing temporary shelter to 135 families or 466 persons.  Of this number, 9 are in the Cordlillera Administrative Region (CAR).

DSWD Secretary  Rolando Bautista said that relief distribution may continue even if families have returned home to help them meet their daily food needs as they rebuild their homes and communities.

Sec. Bautista also shared that the DSWD has reached out to some 100 families in Anonat, Paracelis, Mountain Province in Region CAR bringing food packs amounting to P251,000. The town was inaccessible at the height of the typhoon making it difficult for disaster teams to deliver relief supplies.

Sec. Bautista said, “DSWD and the other members of the Response Cluster are exerting all efforts to deliver aid to the isolated or hard to reach areas affected by the typhoon.  It is our priority to reach out to our kababayans and ensure that their basic necessities are met.”

Moreover, the DSWD’s disaster quick response team in CAR remain fully active especially  in assisting the survivors of the landslide incident in Natonin, Mountain Province.

Disaster teams in other regions, on the other hand, continue to coordinate with concerned LGUs to determine other appropriate interventions that the affected families may need.

To date, DSWD has provided P5,273,046 worth of assistance to affected families in Regions I,II, III, and CAR.  ###