By Brian Campued
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has begun distributing additional relief assistance to provinces affected by Typhoon Tino as the weather disturbance made landfall over Silago, Southern Leyte, and Borbon, Cebu on Tuesday morning.
In its update as of 6:00 a.m., the DSWD said around 2,973 boxes of family food packs (FFPs) have been distributed to affected areas in Bicol, Western Visayas, and Caraga in response to the augmentation request of local government units.
About 204 ready-to-eat-food (RTEF) boxes are likewise distributed to Albay and Masbate.
A mobile kitchen from DSWD Field Office 5 has been deployed to provide hot meals to locally stranded individuals in ports such as the Matnog Port in Sorsogon.
According to data from DSWD Disaster Response Management Bureau (DRMG), around 102,243 families or 339,886 individuals are affected by the onslaught of Typhoon Tino in 1,397 barangays across MIMAROPA, Bicol, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Negros Island Region, Eastern Visayas, and Caraga.
Of the said number, about 53,570 families or 175,531 persons are currently taking temporary shelter in 2,156 evacuation centers while at least 20,565 families or 65,751 individuals are temporarily staying with their relatives or friends.
Meanwhile, more than 2.1 million FFPs were already prepositioned as early as last week in key areas across the country in preparation for Typhoon Tino.
“That’s the value of prepositioning. Anytime, handa tayo kasi sabi nga ng Pangulong [Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.], dapat tiyakin natin ‘yung kapanatagan ng kalooban ng ating mga kababayan at matiyak na wala pong kababayang Pilipino ang magugutom sa gitna ng kalamidad,” DSWD DRMG Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao said.
The Disaster Response Command Center (DRCC) of the DSWD has also been placed under Red Alert since Monday to strengthen coordination and monitoring among concerned government agencies, LGUs, and DSWD field offices.
-jpv
