RELIEF GOODS. The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) distributed family food packs in Dagami, Leyte in this Jan. 1, 2020 photo. The DSWD said on Tuesday (Jan. 7, 2020) there are enough relief supplies for typhoon victims in Eastern Visayas. (Photo courtesy of DSWD)
TACLOBAN CITY -- The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has assured on Tuesday that there are enough relief supplies for victims of recent typhoons in Eastern Visayas.
This, after DSWD field offices in other regions, shipped augmentation food assistance to boost the ongoing relief operations after two typhoons hit the region in December.
“Our relief works immediately started on Dec. 3, a day after Typhoon Tisoy hit Samar provinces and it continued until now when Ursula devastated the region on Christmas Eve. After we noticed a depleted supply, we requested for augmentation from other regions,” said Theo Felices, DSWD Eastern Visayas regional disaster response operation division project development officer.
Around 43,000 family food packs have been shipped to Eastern Visayas to ensure enough relief supplies for the affected families.
These include food packs from the DSWD offices in Cordillera Administrative Region, Central Visayas, Bicol, Northern Mindanao, Caraga, and central office.
Each food pack contains six kilos of rice, four cans of corned beef, four cans of meatloaf, six sachets of coffee good for three to five days for a family of five members.
As of Jan. 1, 2020, the DSWD has distributed some PHP8.6-million worth of relief supplies to Typhoon Ursula's victims in Samar, Eastern Samar, Leyte, and Biliran provinces.
This is on top of the PHP8.7 million worth of assistance initially provided by the local government units (LGUs).
“Right now, we are finishing the terminal reports for the two typhoons, so we can proceed now to the next step and formulate the best recovery plans to be endorsed to the central office for funding,” Felices added.
After the assessment, the LGUs together with other concerned agencies will convene for a consultation meeting to determine the appropriate recovery phase programs for the affected towns.
The DSWD reminded the public that relief goods are not for sale, adding that in any disaster the LGUs should always be the first responder. (PNA)
