On Thursday, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian informed President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. that the agency is prepared to replenish the supply of family food packs (FFPs) for local government units (LGUs) affected by Typhoon Carina and the southwest monsoon, or ‘Habagat.’

“Now, it’s noteworthy to point out na, there’s another 100,000 request that came in after 12 midnight last night. So, it would bring us to 500,000 family food packs. We are ready to supply that, we are just waiting for the LGUs to pick them up kasi yun ang normal arrangements because they have the trucks while we only have 1-2 trucks,” Gatchalian said during a briefing with President Marcos at Malacañang Park.

Gatchalian reported that the agency has already released 360,228 FFPs to various DSWD Regional Offices serving severely affected LGUs:

• 39,038 to the National Capital Region (NCR)

• 171,147 to Central Luzon

• 90,957 to CALABARZON

• 38,766 to MIMAROPA

• 20,000 to Bicol

He explained, “When we say released, it is either in our field offices already waiting to be picked up kasi when we spoke to the mayors, lahat sila, yesterday, they are all in rescue mode muna.”

The DSWD is coordinating with local officials to ensure swift provision of aid to affected families. Gatchalian added, “As we speak, LGUs are picking up. In fact, yesterday I touched base with the Metro Manila mayors, the governors of Luzon, lahat sila they are in that mode yesterday na ang focus ay rescue muna. Yung mga nasa evacuation centers namin na around 33,000 families, we’ll take care of them.”

The Secretary also mentioned ongoing support for LGUs affected by flooding in Visayas and Mindanao due to the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and the southwest monsoon. “Mr. President, yung issue natin sa Mindanao we’re still continuing with that. We haven’t stopped providing the request ng Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) area because they also need an augmentation.”

According to the July 25, 6:00 AM report from the DSWD-Disaster Response Operations Monitoring and Information Center (DROMIC), 101,509 families or 393,962 individuals have been affected by the twin weather disturbances across 1,004 barangays in NCR, Regions 1 (Ilocos Region), 2 (Cagayan Valley), 3 (Central Luzon), CALABARZON, MIMAROPA, 5 (Bicol Region), 6 (Western Visayas), 7 (Central Visayas), 10 (Northern Mindanao), and the Cordillera Administrative Region.