By Freddie Lazaro
SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union -- The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has released a total of P11.6M worth of relief goods to monsoon rain victims in Region 1.
As of 24 July 2018, the Local Government Units (LGUs) which have received family food packs (FFPs) with a total of P10.6.8M are as follows: Narvacan, Ilocos S*ur-P759,680.00; Asingan - P759,680.00, Bani P303,872.00, Calasiao-P3.6M, Laoac-P180,000.00, Mabini-P180,000.00, Mangatarem-P360,000.00, Rosales-P360,000.00, Urbiztondo-P1.4M, Dagupan City-P2.5M, and in Urdaneta City-P180,000.00, all in the Province of Pangasinan.
Also, P573,575.00 worth of non-food items were given to the following areas: Calasiao-P119,400 (sleeping kits), Urbiztondo-P362,440.00 (kitchen utensils and family and hygiene kits), Malasiqui-P91,725.00 (hygiene and sleeping kits).
Director Marcelo Nicomedes J. Castillo, the regional director of the DSWD Region 1, said that at the onset of the monsoon rains and Tropical Depression ‘Josie’ last weekend (21 July 2018), his office immediately coordinated with the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) for the transport of initial goods to the heavily flooded towns of Calasiao and Urbiztondo in Pangasinan.
Castillo said that the Disaster Response Management Division of his office sustained smooth coordination with the Social Welfare and Development (SWAD) Team Leaders, P/C/MDRRMCs, and P/C/MSWDOs in the monitoring of situation and collation of disaster reports in the last four days.
Dir. Castillo’s meeting with RDRRMC Chairperson Melchito Castro discussed the deployment of Rapid Disaster and Assessment Needs Analysis (RDANA) Team in Pangasinan. Also, the result of Aerial Survey Assessment on the damages of Province of Pangasinan was also tackled e.g., damage and loss of agricultural crops including economic loss of the small and big enterprises and vendors.
As Vice-Chair of the Response Cluster, the DSWD together with member-agencies decided to deploy medical team to the evacuation areas in Sta. Barbara and Dagupan City in Pangasinan. Also, uniformed men from AFP, PNP, DPWH and Philippine Navy were to be maximized for the transport and distribution of relief goods and rescue operations.
As of July 24 2018; 695,978 individuals from 141,101 families affected in all the provinces. From this, 10,758 individuals from 2,646 families served at evacuation centers in 17 cities/municipalities of La Union and Pangasinan.
Also, two (2) houses were totally damaged and fifteen (15) houses were partially damaged due to landslide and flashfloods in the provinces of Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, and Pangasinan.
Packing of FFPs is done round the clock to meet the needs of requesting Local Government Units (LGUs) especially those who are still underwater and sources of income were suspended.