The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has provided more than P37 million worth of aid to families affected by tropical storm "Crising" and the southwest monsoon (habagat), the agency reported Sunday.
Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao, spokesperson and head of the Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG), said the relief aid includes 53,383 family food packs (FFPs), ready-to-eat meals, and non-food items swiftly distributed to affected communities.
“We’ve scaled up our assistance from P4 million yesterday to P37 million this morning, thanks to the tireless work of our Quick Response Teams (QRTs) in the field,” Dumlao said.
As of 6 a.m., DSWD data showed that 151,012 families or 523,686 individuals across 1,134 barangays in 16 regions — including NCR, Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, CALABARZON, MIMAROPA, Western and Central Visayas and parts of Mindanao — have been affected.
Of this number: 9,621 families (33,608 individuals) are in 407 evacuation centers, while 22,511 families (99,834 individuals) are staying with relatives or friends.
In Antique, DSWD personnel in Western Visayas braved the strong current of the Burwangan River to hand-deliver 200 boxes of food packs to residents of Barangay Alegre in Sebaste after a key bridge became impassable.
In Negros Occidental, DSWD teams provided psychosocial support for children in evacuation centers in Hinigaran and Binalbagan through storytelling and play sessions in child-friendly spaces.
To sustain relief operations, the DSWD continues to produce food packs at its National Resource Operations Center in Pasay City and the Visayas Disaster Response Center in Cebu. The agency also maintains nearly P3 billion worth of stockpiles and standby funds for ongoing disaster response.
“We remain committed to reaching every affected community quickly and efficiently, in line with the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and Secretary Rex Gatchalian,” Dumlao added.