Davao flood victims get aid

DAVAO CITY — The City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) distributed relief assistance to some 33 families in this city who were affected by flooding incidents on 30 June and 1 July.

The families consisting of around 111 individuals were affected as the city has been experiencing heavy rainfall that caused flooding in some areas in various barangays — Calinan Poblacion, Talomo Proper, and Bago Aplaya.

Julie Dayaday, CSWDO officer-in-charge, said in an interview that during flooding incidents they make sure that the victims are being catered to with the services they need including the provision of food assistance.

The CSWDO provided welfare goods such as food packs and conducted community cooking in Calinan for the flood-affected families, while the barangay provided lomi and distributed welfare goods from the office of Davao City First District Rep. Paolo Duterte in Barangays Talomo Proper and Bago Aplaya.

Dayaday also said that usually, the barangays are the first responders during such incidents and they also conduct an initial assessment and provide immediate assistance to the victims.

“We facilitate the provision of assistance. As I said, it’s the barangay that does the first response. They ensure to provide for the needs of the evacuees, while the CSWDO will conduct master listing and, profiling, of the evacuees. If the evacuation took place at an earlier time, we provide food for community cooking or hot meals,” she added.

Dayaday urged Dabawenyos to avoid constructing their homes in danger zones and to follow the city’s ordinances, especially the one on preemptive evacuation.