DSWD provides food, cash assistance to Mindanao quake victims

"We will make sure that we will not let go until we are able to help our fellow Filipinos recover from this tragedy. We will make sure that we will not abandon them throughout the recovery process," Secretary Rex Gatchalian said in a radio interview.

The DSWD Chief arrived immediately in General Santos City, a few hours after the massive tremor on Monday to oversee the agency’s ongoing disaster response operations in the area.

The agency conducted a multi-modal relief operation together with other national agencies to reach isolated towns and assist affected families and individuals.

"The DSWD stands committed and ready to help and respond. In fact, I am here now, along with Secretary Herbosa and Secretary Dizon," Gatchalian said, noting that the President had directed concerned agencies to ensure a swift response.

He identified the hardest hit areas requiring immediate intervention including the municipalities of Glan, Maasim, and Malapatan in Sarangani province, along with the towns of Malita, Don Marcelino, Jose Abad Santos, and Balut Island in Davao Occidental.

Gatchalian added that the agency prepared with more than 1.1 million family food packs (FFPs) prepositioned across Mindanao even before the earthquake happened.

Aside from cash assistance distributed to injured individuals in Sarangani, the DSWD Region 12 distributed ready-to-eat food (RTEF) boxes to mothers, giving birth in the obstetrics wards of both the Sarangani Provincial Hospital and the Dr. Jorge P. Royeca Hospital.

For evacuated patients, the DSWD set up outdoor tents at the Dr. Jorge P. Royeca Hospital to serve as temporary shelters.

Meanwhile, in Jose Abad Santos, modular and family tents were similarly pitched inside the evacuation center to properly accommodate the displaced residents.

The DSWD reported on Tuesday morning that it provided humanitarian assistance of more than P4.23 million to the earthquake-hit individuals and families.

The agency also announced maintaining available relief resources, including P839.89 million in its Quick Response Fund (QRF) and P4.46 million worth of food and non-food items (NFIs).

Following landslides causing road closures in affected communities, the DSWD said that it is utilizing helicopters of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) for airlifts while coordinating with the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and Philippine Navy (PN) to transport additional FFPs by sea.

"The Air Force will airlift additional relief goods using Black Hawk helicopters so that [assistance can] reach [affected areas] immediately," Gatchalian said.

“We are also coordinating with the Philippine Coast Guard and the Philippine Navy for sea transport so we can send additional family food packs,” he added.

Meanwhile, the DSWD Field Office 11 (Davao Region) conducted a simultaneous distribution of relief items in Sta. Maria, Davao Occidental, particularly in the barangays of Basiawan, Sto. Rosario, and Kisulad.

The regional DSWD distributed 404 family food packs (FFPs), 24 hygiene kits, and 24 family kits in three barangays.

The agency is also set to distribute supplies in Barangay Kinangan in Malita, Davao Occidental with 42 family food packs (FFPs) including 155 FFPs for Brgy. Kidalapong and 10 same food packs in Brgy. Bito.

For the entire Davao Occidental, relief supplies are scheduled for delivery to the province including 4,000 family food packs (FFPs), 75 each of hygiene kits, family kits, kitchen kits, and sleeping kits.

In the Zamboanga Peninsula, among the relief items distributed were approximately 2,318 ready-to-eat food (RTEF) boxes, 140 sleeping kits, 200 jerry cans, 2 family kits, and 2 hygiene kits for affected families.

The DSWD reported that its regional offices distributed 2,045 family food packs (FFPs), 2,705 ready-to-eat food (RTEF) boxes, and 360 non-food items to areas heavily affected by the magnitude 7.8 earthquake in Mindanao as of Tuesday, 6 AM.

The latest Disaster Response Operations Monitoring, Information, and Communication (DROMIC) report of the agency revealed that 145,693 individuals or 32,926 families from 163 barangays across Regions 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula), Region 11 (Davao), and Region 12 (SOCCSKARGEN) affected by the tremor.