DSWD continues disaster ops for 'Marce'; rolls out response for 'Nika'

The Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Field Offices (FOs) on Monday said they will continue their disaster operations for the families and individuals affected by Typhoon Marce while, at the same time, preparing their response efforts for Tropical Cyclone Nika.

“To ensure immediate delivery of relief aid, particularly to our affected kababayans in the Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), we are continuously tapping our regional warehouses to dispatch relief resources and support regional relief operations at the earliest time possible,” Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG) Asst. Secretary Irene Dumlao, who is also the DSWD spokesperson, said.

According to Dumlao, the DSWD Field Office—CAR’s warehouse in the town of La Trinidad, Benguet province, has been dispatching relief supplies non-stop to support the relief efforts in the Cagayan Valley region.

“Earlier, we dispatched 6,145 boxes of family food packs (FFPs) from the DSWD FO-CAR’s warehouse bound for Cagayan Valley. These are intended to replenish the supplies of our relief resources in Region 2 and for immediate distribution to Marce-affected families in the area,” the DSWD official said.

Dumlao said the warehouse in La Trinidad, Benguet, can house up to 45,000 FFPs and non-food items (NFIs), allowing the storage facility to dispense relief resources to other FOs while sustaining the demand for relief operations in the province.

The DRMG official said the agency was able to extend 1,500 FFPs to Marce-hit families in the province of Cagayan during President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s aid distribution held at Buguey town in Cagayan province.

In a similar aid-giving held in Pagudpud town in Ilocos Norte, around 1,067 boxes of FFPs from the DSWD were distributed to disaster-hit residents.

Amid the continuing disaster operations for Marce, Dumlao said the agency has started rolling out its initial relief response for Severe Tropical Storm Nika on Saturday night (November 9).

“Our Field Office in the Bicol Region, together with the provincial local government of Catanduanes, distributed hot meals to 54 stranded passengers in Tabaco Port as soon as sea travel was suspended due to inclement weather brought about by Nika,” Dumlao said.

The DSWD official affirmed that the agency and its Field Offices are on alert to extend immediate relief augmentation to local government units (LGUs) along the forecast track of Nika, which includes the areas battered by the series of storms that recently hit the country.