By Dean Aubrey Caratiquet
Cognizant of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s earlier directive to immediately mobilize resources to communities affected by Mayon Volcano’s unrest, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) was one of the agencies that immediately acted upon the President’s orders.
The agency’s regional office in the Bicol Region promptly dispatched various forms of humanitarian aid to families displaced during the ongoing Mayon eruption.
According to the May 3, 6:00 p.m. report of the Disaster Response Operations Information Communication (DROMIC), the DSWD provided 71,153 family food packs (FFPs), 7,634 non-food items (NFIs), and 1,402 ready-to-eat food (RTEFs) to the affected families.
For cash aid, DSWD Spokesperson and Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao mentioned that the Department disbursed over P45 million to more than 3,487 farmers and internally displaced persons (IDPs) whose livelihood were temporarily halted because of the pyroclastic activity of the Mayon Volcano.
Asec. Dumlao said in an interview, “Ang ginawa po kasi natin sa mga farmers na lumikas doon sa evacuation centers ay, it’s either nagtanim po sila sa mga vacant plots sa compound o sila ay nagpastol ng kanilang mga alagang hayop.
Kaya doon sa labor na ginagawa nila, nagbigay tayo ng tulong pinansiyal using cash-for-work muna. Ito ay upang matiyak na itong mga farmers natin ay patuloy na makakapag-hanapbuhay.”
The DSWD Spokesperson added that the agency also provides emergency cash transfer (ECT) to IDPs, providing each family with more than P10,000 in financial assistance to cover their requirements for food and non-food items.
To date, the DSWD is also working with concerned local government units (LGUS) in monitoring the condition of 1,444 families or 5,459 individuals currently taking temporary shelter in 14 evacuation centers in the municipalities of Camalig and Malilipot, and the cities of Ligao and Tabaco, in Albay Province.
As of press time, Mayon Volcano remains at alert level 3, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology’s (Phivolcs) 4:00 a.m. bulletin on Tuesday.
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