DSWD ready to deploy response teams to LGUs affected by Taal Volcano unrest
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is ready to dispatch its quick response teams (QRTs) to assist the local government units (LGUs) in overseeing evacuation centers that will be set up for the families affected by Taal Volcano's heightened activity.

The DSWD expressed anew its readiness to extend assistance to the LGUs and their constituents that could be affected by a possible volcanic eruption.
"As head of the Camp Coordination and Camp Management Cluster of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), the Department can deploy members of its Quick Response Teams to assist LGUs in managing evacuation centers that will be set-up for displaced families,” it said in a statement issued on Thursday, Feb.18 after the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) recorded 91 tremor episodes and weak emission of steam-laden plumes from the Taal Volcano in the past 24 hours
The DSWD noted that its Field Office (FO) IV-A (CALABARZON) has placed its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) under heightened alert to monitor volcanic activities and to provide technical assistance to municipalities that are in need of such aid.
"To date, the Field Office has more than P2.6 million worth of family food packs (FFPs) and over P8.5 million worth of available relief supplies for repacking,” it said.
"It also has more than P8.3 million standby funds that can be used to procure additional emergency relief supplies,” it added.
On Feb. 16, the disaster teams from the FO, led by DSWD Undersecretary Jose Antonio R. Hernandez, attended the virtual conference of the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) IV-A–Response Cluster to discuss the preparedness for response operations of localities in the lakeshore of Taal Volcano.