The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has assured the public that it has enough resources to augment the relief efforts of local government units (LGUs) during times of disasters and calamities.
The DSWD reported that it has available stockpiles and standby funds amounting to over P727.07 million.
Based on the latest DSWD-Disaster Response Operations Monitoring and Information Center (DROMIC) report, as of 6 a.m., January 7, the agency’s standby funds amounted to P121.09 million, while it has stockpiles worth P605.98 million.
"DSWD assures the public that it has sufficient resources for its disaster response operations,” it said in a message emailed to the Manila Bulletin.
Of the standby funds, P74.41 million serves as the Quick Response Fund (QRF), which can be replenished by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), upon the agency’s request. The Field Offices (FOs) have P46.69 million in available funds.
The DSWD also said around 160, 421 family food packs (FFPs) worth P76.55 million are available for distribution.
Also part of the agency’s stockpiles are P336.98 million worth of non-food items and P192.45 million worth of other food items.
The DSWD has so far distributed a total of 2, 451, 108 FFPs nationwide, based on the DROMIC report.
The total cost of relief assistance amounted to P1.89 billion. Of the amount, P1.38 billion was the share of the DSWD. Non-government organizations provided P480.13 million and other sources extended P31.85 million in aid, bringing the total cost of assistance to P1.89 billion.