By Jose Cielito Reganit | Philippine News Agency
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) continues to deliver relief assistance to affected communities across Visayas and Mindanao following the onslaught of Typhoon Tino.
In an interview on Wednesday, Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao of the DSWD’s Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG) said the total humanitarian assistance released by the agency has so far reached over P69.45 million.
“Alam n’yo po, ang Department of Social Welfare and Development ay talagang naghahanda para sa lahat ng kalamidad dahil batid naman po natin na tayo ay highly vulnerable to various hazards. [Dahil dito] ini-implement po natin yung Buong Bansa Handa (BBH) program kung saan we have created two parallel supply chains for the government-sector driven, and the second one is the private-sector driven,” Dumlao said.
Through strategically prepositioned relief items under the BBH program, the DSWD has distributed over 123,000 family food packs (FFPs) to affected individuals.
Dumlao said non-food items and ready-to-eat food (RTEF) boxes have also been provided to families currently staying in evacuation centers.
A mobile kitchen deployed in Matnog Port in Sorsogon also provided hot meals to locally stranded individuals, helping ease the hardships faced by affected commuters.
Meanwhile, Dumlao expressed condolences to the families of those who lost their lives due to the typhoon.
While the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) continues to validate the official death toll, the DSWD assured bereaved families that burial assistance will be provided.
“Ang atin pong mga field offices naman po ay nagri-reach out sa mga pamilya nang sa gayon ay ma-assist po natin sila at mabahagian po ng tulong,” she said.
While relief operations for Typhoon Tino are ongoing, the DSWD is also monitoring the approaching tropical cyclone, which may intensify into a super typhoon when it enters the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) over the weekend.
“We’re monitoring right now the coming of the new storm. We are now closely working with the local government units to ensure and assure them that DSWD is ready for it,” Dumlao said.
The DSWD currently maintains over P2.87 billion in standby funds and stockpiles of food and non-food items across its field offices nationwide.
