CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga (PNA) – Relief efforts have been stepped up in flood-hit areas in Region 3 (Central Luzon) to assist thousands of residents still reeling from the effects of typhoon “Egay” and the enhanced southwest monsoon or “habagat.” Concerned government agencies such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) as well as local government units (LGUs) in the region have intensified the distribution of relief support and assistance to address the immediate needs of the affected families in the region. Based on the report of the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council-Central Luzon (RDRRMC-3) on July 31, there were 341,242 families or 1,195,886 individuals displaced by massive flooding caused by the continuous moderate to heavy rains in the past days. The DSWD has allotted some 140,000 family food packs (FFPs) in the region as an augmentation to the LGUs which were severely hit by flooding. DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian has earlier ordered the dispatch of at least 289,906 boxes of FFPs in the first two weeks of August as augmentation assistance to the LGUs in the Ilocos region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, and Cordillera Autonomous Region. RDRRMC-3 data further showed that some P31.31-million worth of assistance has so far been provided by DSWD-3 and the LGUs to affected individuals and families. In Pampanga, the provincial government has provided some 20,000 food packs to families in the flood-ravaged municipalities of Candaba, San Luis, San Simon, Minalin, Santo Tomas, and the City of San Fernando. In Bulacan, Gov. Daniel Fernando, together with the personnel from the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO) and Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, led on Tuesday, Aug. 1, the distribution of food packs to the flood-ravaged residents in Calumpit and Guiguinto towns. The PSWDO said that 21,367 individuals or 5,631 families were evacuated due to flooding in their areas. Fernando called on members of the House of Representatives to prioritize the urgent and comprehensive solution to the decade-old problem of flooding in the province during the Technical Working Group Meeting of the House Committee on Public Works and Highways on Monday. Meanwhile, the provinces of Pampanga and Bulacan joined the list of LGUs placed under a state of calamity due to the massive destruction brought by the weather disturbances. Fernando cited the need for the declaration of a state of calamity because of the vast damage the flooding brought to the agriculture, livestock, and infrastructure in Bulacan. “Kailangang-kailangan iyan dahil unang una ang ating agricultural damages is almost P80 million, ‘yung livestock and hogs natin ay halos P3 million. Wala pa po diyan ang infrastructure (It is badly needed (the declaration) because, first our agricultural damages is almost P80 million, on our livestocks and hogs is almost P3 million. The damage to infrastructure is not yet included),” the governor said. In a resolution authored by Sangguniang Panlalawigan (provincial board) presiding officer and Vice Gov. Alexis C. Castro, Egay and the enhanced southwest monsoon affected 228,648 families from 171 barangays of the province. Pampanga Gov. Dennis Pineda, on the other hand, said that as per the report of the PDRRMC, a total of 232 barangays in 15 LGUs in Pampanga were hit by floods, affecting some 144,340 families or 517,722 individuals. Damage to agriculture in the province was initially estimated at P315.23 million. “Dahil sa declaration of a state of calamity, ‘yung mga calamity funds ay magagamit na natin. Magtulung-tulong na tayo, hindi kakayanin lahat ng probinsya, kailangan ng tulong mula sa barangay at municipal levels (Because of the declaration of a state of calamity, we can now use the calamity funds. Let us help one another, the province cannot do it all, the help and support from the barangay and municipal levels are needed),” Pineda said.