The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said on Friday, May 3 that over P101 million in humanitarian aid has been given to families affected by the El Niño phenomenon nationwide.
DSWD Assistant Secretary for Disaster Response Management Group and spokesperson Irene Dumlao said delivering food packs to families affected by severe dry condition has been the agency’s primary goal.
As of May 3, the DSWD had prepositioned 178,400 family food packs totaling P121.6 million in strategic locations across the country.
Dumlao said the DSWD’s National Resource and Logistics Management Bureau also ensured the replenishment and availability of food and non-food items for resource augmentation to DSWD field offices as needed.
“Concerned local government units (LGUs) and other partners have also extended assistance to the affected families. Based on the latest report of our Disaster Response Operations Monitoring and Information Center (DROMIC), LGUs across the country have provided assistance amounting to P6.2 million, while other partners have given P5.4 million worth of aid,” she said.
DSWD guaranteed the provision of ample humanitarian aid, with P3.2 billion set aside for relief supplies and standby funds for disaster relief operations.
Based on the government data, the dry spell has affected 737,901 families or 3,095,107 people in 4,058 barangays across 13 regions (Regions 1, 2, 3, 4B, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, Cordillera Administrative Region, and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao).