Quick reaction teams of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) have been deployed in various field offices of the agency, ready to distribute over P884 million stockpile of food, and basic and emergency needs of people facing the devastation brought about by super typhoon "Rolly."
(Photo by Charism SAYAT / AFP / MANILA BULLETIN)
With Social Welfare Development Secretary Rolando Bautista supervising the regional command post, QRTs zeroed in distribution efforts in areas that the supertyphoon passed through.
As of 10 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 1, the DSWD regional offices continued to be flooded with requests for relief goods for various evacuation centers.
Reporting at the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council meeting, DSWD Undersecretary Felicisimo Budiongan revealed that the department has readied for distribution some P115 million worth of ready-to-eat family food packs.
Another P180 million worth of food items are being packed in field offices for immediate distribution should ready-to-eat stocks dry up.
Budiongan said that prior to supertyphoon Rolly’s landfall, the DSWD, anticipating the basic requirement of typhoon victims, had prepared P279 million worth of non-food items, which include tents, kitchen utensils, hygiene kits, and other basic necessities.
Also on standby is a fund worth P263 million to address resupply demands and other emergency needs. The standby fund may also be given to augment financial needs of local government units (LGUs) severely affected by the supertyphoon.
“Ang DSWD ay nagbibigay din po ng pang-augment sa mga LGUs na nagbibigay ng family food packs sa mga nangangaiilangan, (The DSWD also augments the needs of LGUs that also distribute family food packs to those needing them),” said Budiongan.