Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian said on Tuesday, 3 September, that the agency is currently distributing around 30,000 family food packs (FFPS) in the Bicol Region, where 1364 families have been affected by Tropical Storm "Enteng."

“Naka-replenish na tayo pero sa dating sa akin nitong Enteng, dahil magli-linger siya ng ilang araw, malamang mauubos na natin ‘yung na-replenish natin. Pero ganoon talaga, we’ll have to keep on replenishing kasi alam natin Typhoon season ngayon. But itong sa Enteng, we’re more than ready. In fact, may mga nakukuha na tayo na request at tuloy-tuloy tayong mag-deploy,” the DSWD chief said.

The data for affected families, including affected 4,124 individuals in Bicol Region, comes from a 2 September report from the Disaster Response Operations Management, Information, and Communication (DROMIC).

The DSWD Field Office-5 (Bicol) also distributed hot meals from the agency’s FFPs to around 504 evacuees taking temporary shelter at the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Building in Barangay Caratagan in Pio Duran town, Albay province.

A total of 146 internally displaced families (IDFs) in Barangays Lerma and Triangulo in Naga City were also provided with relief items. Meanwhile, the Bicol Field Office also provided hot meals to 618 stranded passengers at the different ports in the provinces of Masbate, Sorsogon, and Albay.

Gatchalian also said that DSWD is planning to deploy 10,000 boxes of FFPs to assist residents in Marikina who were evacuated after Marikina River water levels swelled to trigger 2nd Alarm yesterday.

“So alam natin na kapag lumagpas na siya ng certain alert level, may evacuation na. So, we’re already planning to deploy some relief goods sa mga initial na evacuees sa Marikina, around 10,000 FFPs,” Gatchalian said.