By Jose Cielito Reganit | Philippine News Agency
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) continues to provide uninterrupted relief operations and financial assistance to families affected by Mayon Volcano’s unrest, while simultaneously initiating efforts to retrofit evacuation facilities against extreme heat.
In a media forum at the DSWD Central Office on Thursday, Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao of the DSWD’s Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG) presented to the media recent data on DSWD 5’s (Bicol Region) Mayon Volcano disaster response operations.
“As of 6:00 a.m. this morning, we’ve recorded more than 70,000 affected families in Region 5, equivalent to more than 286,000 individuals,” she said.
Disaster monitoring teams have also recorded 1,132 families, or 4,106 individuals, still taking temporary shelter across 12 open evacuation centers, with 26 families, or 85 individuals, temporarily staying outside these designated evacuation centers.
“Ang Department of Social Welfare and Development ay nakahanda po na suportahan yung mga local government units (LGUs). This has been (an) agreement with the provincial government early this year, na kung saan nga po ay every 15 days ay mamamahagi tayo ng family food packs, and that is what we are doing for the past months already,” Dumlao told reporters.
To sustain the daily needs of the displaced populations, the DSWD has already distributed 100,257 family food packs (FFPs), 1,402 ready-to-eat-food boxes, and 7,634 non-food items (NFIs) containing essential hygiene kits and kitchen supplies.
She reported that aside from the FFPs, the DSWD-5 has also mobilized its mobile kitchen to provide hot and nutritious meals to the displaced families to prevent “food pack fatigue.”
Beyond basic provisions, humanitarian interventions have expanded through cash-for-work (CFW) and emergency cash transfer (ECT) modalities that have released P56,856,500 in financial aid to support vulnerable households.
As the lead agency for Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM), the DSWD is taking proactive measures to shield internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the adverse effects of soaring temperatures.
“Likewise, we’re currently discussing how to retrofit our evacuation centers para ma-protektahan nga po, ma-insulate yung ating mga camps, mga tents, from the effects of the elevated heat temperatures, and likewise we’re checking on the proper ventilation, again to ensure that our IDPs who are currently in the evacuation centers are somehow protected from the effects of the elevated heat temperatures,” Dumlao said.
In addressing the extremely high temperatures triggered by El Niño, she said ongoing discussions are underway to revise the 2021 Joint Memorandum Circular on CCCM to effectively integrate heat emergency planning nationwide.
“Isa sa nakikita natin na pwedeng idagdag sa ating mga evacuation centers ay isang cooling area. So yung cooling area na yan, equipped yan with the necessary mechanisms. Ano yan? Air-cooling machines. Kabilang na diyan yung air conditioning units, and also yung iba pang mga kagamitan, to make the heat temperatures cooler,” she said.
To ensure national readiness for prolonged displacement, the DSWD maintains a massive stockpile of relief goods to immediately augment local resources, she said.
“This is in line with the directive of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to DSWD to ensure the fast and sustained provision of assistance to families affected by disasters,” she added.
The DSWD’s national stockpile currently holds 4,696,978 boxes of FFPs, strategically prepositioned across the country, and a total standby fund of P1.21 billion to guarantee an immediate response during prolonged emergency scenarios.
