Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian said on Monday he has instructed the agency’s Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG) to be on alert status and ready to provide assistance and resource augmentation to all local government units (LGUs) along the track of Tropical Depression (TD) Kristine.

“We have to make sure Field Offices  1 and 2 and CAR’s [Cordillera Administrative Region] stockpiles are in full strength,” Secretary Gatchalian told the DRMG group on Sunday (October 20), emphasizing that TD Kristine has the same track as Super Typhoon Carina that severely battered Northern Luzon in July.

Secretary Gatchalian also ordered the National Resource Operations Center (NROC), the agency’s main disaster response hub located in Pasay City, Metro Manila, to speed up its production of family food packs (FFPs), as the agency needs to be prepared  and ready when the storm hits Batanes.

“Request assistance from the Philippine Airforce and Navy to deliver the FFPs and other non-food items to Batanes,” the DSWD chief further directed the DRMG group headed by Undersecretary Diana Rose Cajipe.

As of press time, there are a total of 94,838 boxes of FFPs in Region 1 (Ilocos Region); 113,296 FFPs in Region 2 (Cagayan Valley Region); and 62,360 in CAR.

A total of 186,311 FFPs in NROC are already on standby for augmentation to affected localities.

“We are in constant communication with the Philippine Navy and the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) to prioritize the delivery of FFPs in the island province of Batanes,” Undersecretary Cajipe said in response to the instruction of Secretary Gatchalian.

Undersecretary Cajipe said the Department intends to raise the number of stockpiles in the island province of Batanes  to 14,000 FFPs by Wednesday.

Currently, there are 1,683 FFPs in Itbayat, Batanes, and the NROC is ready to dispatch more food packs either from Villamor Airbase, Sta. Ana in Cagayan, or from Laoag City.

The DRMG will meet with the DSWD regional directors nationwide on October 21 at 4 pm to further discuss preparedness and response efforts for the weather disturbance.