The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has extended support to Bicolano families affected by the recent activity of Mayon Volcano.

DSWD Field Office 5 (Bicol Region) distributed 59,153 family food packs (FFPs), as well as hot meals and hygiene kits, to displaced residents in Tabaco City, Camalig, and Malilipot in Albay province.

“We are coordinating with non-government organizations and local government units affected by the Mayon Volcano unrest. The agency has already distributed food and non-food items, and we have also deployed our Mobile Kitchen to provide hot meals to our affected fellow citizens,” Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao said on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the agency partnered with Bicol University and the UN Youth Association to conduct psychosocial activities, film showings, games, and other educational programs to help relieve stress among displaced children.

Livelihood assistance will also be provided to internally displaced persons (IDPs) whose sources of income were affected by Mayon’s continued activity.

Following Alert Level 3 at Mayon, the DSWD said it provided Emergency Cash Transfer (ECT) assistance to 1,105 IDPs in four municipalities in Albay, and implemented Cash-for-Work (CFW) programs for 1,317 affected families in Camalig, Daraga, Guinobatan, Malilipot, Ligao City, and Tabaco City.

The CFW program also supported 2,169 farmers working within the six-kilometer permanent danger zone.

Fourteen evacuation centers in Albay are currently sheltering 1,438 families, or about 5,440 individuals, as of 3 May, the agency reported.