Family Food Packs (FFPs) and other relief assistance from the DSWD were distributed to 510 families on Monday, 10 August, at the Sta. Maria National High School in Barangay Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan.
Photo Courtesy of DSWD
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) reported that nearly five (5) million family food packs (FFPs) nationwide were prepositioned amid ongoing relief efforts for families affected by the enhanced southwest monsoon and recent tropical cyclones ‘Luis’ and ‘Maymay’.
“At present we have [close to] five million family food packs prepositioned in more than a thousand warehouses across the country,” DSWD Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao said during Frontline sa Umaga interview.
“Every day, we continue to produce family food packs at the Luzon Disaster Resource Center and the Visayas Disaster Resource Center,” she added.
According to Dumalao, the DSWD has existing framework agreements with private distributors to complement its food pack production.
“So that anytime na magkaroon tayo ng mga ganitong simultaneous and extreme weather phenomenon, we can draw down from those framework agreements,” she said, noting that the DSWD has the capacity to support local government units (LGUs).
(So that anytime we have these kinds of simultaneous and extreme weather phenomena, we can draw down from those framework agreements.)
Through its Buong Bansa Handa program, the DSWD prepositions relief goods in hazard-prone areas, including geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas, with warehouses strategically located to ensure that supplies are available up to the last mile.
As of 6:00 a.m. of Monday (10 August), the agency has released 54,370 family food packs FFPs as well as 2,722 ready-to-eat food (RTEF) boxes and 1,376 non-food items (NFIs) to affected families and individuals.
The DSWD has provided more than P39 million worth of humanitarian assistance with Secretary Rex Gatchalian instructing the agency to coordinate with local stakeholders to ensure that all needed assistance is provided.
Volunteers, however, are also welcome at the Luzon Disaster Resource Center in Pasay City and the Visayas Disaster Resource Center in Mandaue City to help repack family food packs.
The DSWD Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) on Monday proceeded to the Guisad Surong Evacuation Center in Baguio City to check on families who temporarily evacuated and distribute relief assistance, including 60 family food packs (FFPs), 40 boxes of ready-to-eat food (RTEF), and 40 bottles of six-liter bottled water.
In Central Luzon, 510 families or 2,079 evacuees at Sta. Maria National High School in Barangay Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan, also received relief assistance from DSWD Region 3.
In Region 4-A, around 98 families in Kawit, Cavite, received family food packs and hygiene kits at Gahak Marulas Elementary School, which is serving as an evacuation center for affected residents.
Likewise, 198 families also received similar relief assistance at the Anak Pawis II Covered Court in Barangay San Andres, Cainta, Rizal on Monday.
