The Department of Social Welfare and Development on Thursday said it welcomed the recommendations of the Commission of Audit (COA) to improve the condition of the warehouse operated by the DSWD Field Office – National Capital Region.

DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian has already ordered FO-NCR Director Michael Joseph Lorico to physically inspect the warehouse and check the condition of the stockpile of relief goods, according to DSWD Assistant Secretary Romel Lopez, who is also the agency's spokesperson.

"The words 'state of disrepair' and 'lack of cleanliness and organization' are not acceptable to the DSWD's manual of housing relief items in any of our warehouses or facilities," Lopez said.

"Rest assured that the DSWD management is already looking into this concern to fast-track the application of the necessary changes to improve the stockpiling, cleanliness, and condition of the NCR warehouse," he added.

Lopez said that aside from the immediate inspection, Gatchalian also ordered to sorting out of all relief supplies to ensure that no outdated items will be distributed to areas that will be hit by disaster or calamities.

The department, Lopez said, will also take into consideration regular pest control and repairs to improve the condition of the storage facility, which is operated and managed by FO-NCR.

The National Resource Operations Center (NROC), the main disaster hub of the DSWD located in Pasay City, can temporarily hold some of the family food packs (FFPs) from the regional warehouse until the situation in the said facility is sorted out, according to the DSWD Disaster Response and Management Group (DRMG).

Lopez assured the public that the DSWD has sufficient relief goods, both food and non-food items, to respond to families affected by Typhoon "Jenny".

"At present, the DSWD has more than P1.8 billion stockpile and standby funds ready for relief distribution to areas that will be affected by Typhoon 'Jenny' so our kababayans need not worry because the government is prepared," the DSWD spokesperson said.