P46.6M worth of relief given to LGUs, 120,000 Family Food Packs delivered nationwide - DSWD
By Charissa Luci-Atienza
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has provided a total of P46.64 million relief assistance to the local government units (LGUs) during the enhanced community quarantine, distributing more than 120,000 Family Food Packs (FFPs) nationwide.
Based on the DSWD-Disaster Response Operations and Monitoring Information Center (DROMIC) report, as of 6 a.m. of March 30, a total of 121,803 Family Food Packs have been distributed nationwide.
The National Capital Region (NCR) received 67, 150 FFPs, the report said.
The DSWD-Field Office NCR's total augmentation request stood at 80,000 FFPs.
The DROMIC report noted aside from the DSWD's P46.64 million relief aid, the LGUs also provided P928.17 million assistance, while non-government organizations (NGOs) gave P1.47 million worth of assistance.
A total 13.42 million has been donated by other sources, bringing the total cost of assistance to P989.7 million, based on the report.
The DSWD assured the public that it has stockpiles and standby funds amounting to P1.490 billion--P611 million standby funds in its Central Office and Field Offices (FOs), and P586 million Quick Response Fund (QRF) in the Central Office.
The DROMIC report said 277,771 FFPs amounting to P105 million are still available for distribution.
Also set for distribution are P204 million worth of "other food items" and non-food items amounting to P570 million.
Each FFP contains six kilos of rice, four cans of sardines, four cans of corned beef or beef loaf, and six sachets of coffee or cereal energy drink which is enough for two days for a family with five members, the DSWD said.
"The provision of additional relief items is part of the Department’s mandate to provide Technical Assistance and Resource Augmentation (TARA) to LGUs during times of emergencies," it said.
The DSWD had earlier assured the LGUs that it delivers the relief aid "in a timely manner," even as it clarified a circulating social media post showing the placement of DSWD logo stickers in canned goods which supposedly resulted in the delayed distribution of the food items to their intended recipients.
The "relief goods given to local government units (LGUs) as part of its resource augmentation support to them while under the enhanced community quarantine are delivered in a timely manner based on their request for augmentation," it said.
The Department also clarified that the DSWD's logo is placed on the Family Food Pack (FFP) boxes, instead of on canned goods "for proper identification and to maintain the integrity of the relief supplies."
"It does not have its logo on canned goods," it said.