DSWD on full alert as ‘Paolo’ intensifies

As the Philippines remained restless amid continuous calamities, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) assured the public on Friday, October 3, 2025, that they are prepared to respond to Severe Tropical Storm (STS) Paolo, which has prompted Signal No. 4 warnings over parts of Northern Luzon.

While still extending assistance to communities affected by the recent 6.9-magnitude earthquake in Cebu and the onslaught of typhoons in Masbate and Northern Mindanao, DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said the agency’s quick response teams are on alert and stockpiles are ready for dispatch.

“While assisting Masbate, Cebu and Nando-hit areas, DSWD is also keeping an eye out on this new storm. We are ready,” Secretary Gatchalian posted on his X account.

Based on the October 3 report of the Disaster Response Operations Management, Information, and Communication (DROMIC), the department has more than 2.3 million boxes of family food packs (FFPs) prepositioned nationwide.

In Region 2 (Cagayan Valley), the DSWD has 137,661 boxes of FFPs, while in Region 3 (Central Luzon) a total of 249,533 FFPs are available for augmentation for local government units (LGUs).

According to the NRLMB OIC, the DSWD has 52,000 food boxes prepositioned in the Ilocos Region and more than 65,000 FFPs are also available across the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).

DSWD stated that, on average, the department produces 18,000 to 25,000 food boxes daily in its major hubs and this is expected to increase in the coming days.

“Our current goal is to have around 70,000 to 80,000 boxes ready to go within the next 4 to 5 days, which can then be deployed to the regions based on specific needs and releases," Assistant Secretary Leo Quintilla, concurrent Officer-In-Charge (OIC) of the DSWD’s National Resource and Logistics Management Bureau (NRLMB), said in Tagalog.“The DSWD, as the head of the cluster for camp coordination and camp management, and at the same time, the management of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and, of course, food and non-food items, we assure the public that the DSWD is ready to respond to any disaster situation,” he added.