A total of 75,000 family food packs are available at the Negros Island Region Field Office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development that can be tapped for relief operations following the minor explosive eruption of Mount Kanlaon on 24 October.

“We have more than 75,000 family food packs prepositioned in the Negros Island Region. Our field office coordinated with the local government units if DSWD assistance is needed. We also checked the situation,” said Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao of the Disaster Response Management Group on 25 October.

In a report to DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian, Negros Island Region Director Arwin Razo said no internally displaced persons have been recorded in the affected localities after the raising of Alert Level 2 over the volcano.

“No IDPs were reported or evacuated in potentially affected LGUs such as La Castellana, Canlaon City, Murcia, La Carlota City, and Bago City,” Razo said in his situation report.

Quick Response Teams are continuously monitoring and coordinating with LGUs for technical assistance and possible resource augmentation, Razo added.

Aside from the prepositioned food packs, the regional field office’s mobile kitchen, mobile command center, and water filtration truck are also on standby and ready for deployment should the situation escalate.

The DSWD’s Negros Island Region Field Office remains on alert and ready to provide a swift response to Negrenses in line with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directive that no family will go hungry during disasters.