More than eight million boxes of family food packs (FFPs) were distributed by the c (DSWD) to nearly seven million families who were affected by the series of disasters across the country in 2024.

The 8 million FFPs were part of the 10 million FFPs produced in record time by the DSWD’s National Resource Operations Center in Pasay City and the Visayas Disaster Response Center in Mandaue City, Cebu province, DSWD Assistant Secretary for Disaster Response Management Group and spokesperson Irene Dumlao said.

Non-food items were also distributed to the FFP recipients last year, Dumlao added.

“While we can relatively attribute this huge number to the severity of tropical cyclones and other calamities, we also see this as a result of our enhanced disaster response operations and stronger collaboration with partner-agencies that enabled us to reach more affected-families,” she said.

From January to early October 2024, the Department focused on humanitarian efforts for families affected by typhoons “Aghon” and “Butchoy,” severe tropical storms “Carina” and “Enteng,” typhoons “Ferdie” and “Gener,” tropical storm “Helen” and tropical depression “Julian,” as well as major fires, earthquakes and volcanic incidents.

“The successive storms that started with ‘Kristine,’ followed by ‘Leon,’ ‘Marce,’ ‘Nika,’ ‘Ofel’ and ‘Pepito,’ and the recent eruption of Kanlaon, increased the number of affected families who were aided by the DSWD,” Dumlao said.

Meanwhile, 524,334 families were provided cash assistance through the agency’s cash-for-work (CFW), food for work (FFW) and emergency cash transfer (ECT) programs.

The ECT recipients were given outright cash aid to help them purchase their priority needs and rebuild their lives and livelihoods. The CFW and FFW beneficiaries were given cash or food after participating in community work and training activities.