A repacking center handling goods procured by the Speaker’s office and Tingog Party-list (Speaker's office)

The offices of House Speaker Martin Romualdez and Tingog Party-list launched on Wednesday, July 24 relief operations for the thousands of victims of floods caused by Typhoon "Carina". 

Volunteers first tended to the victims in Marikina City, which has a history with flood-related disasters. 

"Speaker Romualdez and Reps. Yedda K. Romualdez and Jude Acidre of Tingog Party-list have been at the forefront of relief operations to provide an initial 20,000 food packs from the Disaster Relief Funds of the Speaker to aid and support affected communities," a joint statement from the House officials read. 

“The government, under the leadership of President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr., has shown its commitment and dedication to responding to the needs of the people during this calamity,” said Speaker Romualdez, leader of the 300-plus-strong House of Representatives. 

Rep. Romualdez is the chairperson of the House Committee on Accounts while Acidre is a deputy majority leader. 

According to House Deputy Secretary General Sofonias “Ponyong” Gabonada, the House relief effort resulted in the preparation of a total of 20,000 relief food packs. Each pack contains three kilos of rice, canned goods, coffee and other items. 

Hot meals and bottled drinking water was also distributed at Malanday Elementary School in Marikina where evacuees temporarily settled. 

Acidre himself helped man the Tingog Mobile Kitchen that targeted to serve 5,000 hot meals. 

“We have been preparing an initial 20,000 relief food packs. We started preparing since Saturday per the instruction of Speaker Romualdez. These are under the Disaster Relief Funds of the Speaker,” Gabonada said. 

“We are currently doing delivery in different areas in Metro Manila, particularly in Quezon City, Manila and Marikina. We are sourcing out also food packs directly from the source like grocery stores near the affected areas to cut delivery time and for quicker response to the needs of the affected communities,” he added. 

Rep. Romualdez said their relief operations were designed to complement the initiatives undertaken by the national government. 

“The focus is on addressing both immediate needs and long-term recovery, with particular attention given to vulnerable populations who have been most affected by the heavy rains and flooding  Our teams have been and will be deployed to the hardest-hit areas to deliver aid," she said.