The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) assured Wednesday, June 2, that it has enough resources to provide relief assistance to areas affected by Tropical storm “Dante”.
The DSWD expressed readiness to provide augmentation support to localities hit by Dante.
"The Department is closely coordinating with concerned agencies and LGUs to ensure an efficient and well-coordinated response operation for those who will be affected by the weather disturbance,” it said in a statement.
The lead agency of the country’s disaster response pillar reported that currently, it has a total standby resources amounting to ₱1.105 billion. Of this, ₱225 million has been allocated as standby funds.
It reported that a total of 222,382 family food packs (FFPs) worth P113 million were available for distribution.
Some P766 million worth of non-food items (FNIs) and of other food items were also readied as part of the DSWD’s stockpiles.
"The DSWD Central Office (CO) has a total amount of ₱181.2 million available standby funds readily available for its response and early recovery operations during disasters and calamities,” the DSWD said.
"These resources are strategically prepositioned in 17 regional warehouses and 34 DSWD warehouses across the country, especially in the regions forecast to be affected by ‘Dante’, for immediate augmentation to local government units (LGUs) which will need assistance.”
The DSWD cited that it is implementing Twinning and Reinforcement systems.
"Twinning is where the identified twin Field Office (FO) shall immediately provide augmentation as needed while Reinforcement is where the DSWD CO and other regions with appropriate capacity are on standby to provide assistance upon depletion of resources of affected Field Offices (FO),” it explained.
The DSWD also readied its quick response teams that will assist the local government units (LGUs) affected by the tropical storm.
It said its 2,602 quick response team (QRT) members in its 17 FOs and the CO “are ready for deployment as the need arises."
The social welfare agency said considering the continued threat of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the deployment of DSWD staff for the provision of support services is in accordance with the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) Guidelines and Health and Safety Protocols.
The DSWD said displaced families or individuals following the onslaught of Dante need not to worry as they can seek refuge at eight evacuation centers in Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon), Bicol, Western Visayas, Eastern Visayas, and Caraga.
The agency is the lead agency in the Camp Coordination and Camp Management Cluster, and the Internally Displaced Persons Protection Cluster of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC)/
The DSWD urged the public to remain vigilant and to follow the warning advisories of their local chief executives to avoid any untoward incidents that will be brought by Dante.