Driven by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s directive to help typhoon victims, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) assured the public on Saturday of government response to incoming Super Typhoon Pepito.
The typhoon is expected to hit Eastern Visayas, Bicol region, Central Luzon, Ilocos, Cagayan Valley and Cordillera regions this weekend.
“Ang Department of Social Welfare and Development ay nakahanda. Nakahanda po tayo na tumugon sa mga pangangailangan ng ating mga kababayan na maaapektuhan ng Bagyong Pepito,” DSWD Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao said in a news forum in Quezon City.
“Again, this is part of the augmentations support of the DSWD to the local government units which are frontline in service delivery. Sa katunayan po, ang DSWD ay mayroon pong mahigit 500,000 family food packs na naka-preposition sa iba’t ibang lugar sa ating bansa,” she added.
DSWD is focusing on Ilocos and Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Cordillera Administrative Region, and Calabarzon, particularly Quezon province, Dumlao said.
It has prepositioned goods in Bicol, particularly in Catanduanes, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte and Albay, she said. Dumlao said the agency also prepositioned and reinforced food stocks in Central Luzon.
Through the Visayas Disaster Response Center, the DSWD sent over 30,000 more family food packs for Bicol. Due to the suspension of sea travel at Port of Allen on Friday, the food packs are stored at DSWD’s Allen warehouse in Northern Samar, Dumlao said.
The DSWD, she said, is loading more than 50,000 family food packs at its National Resource Operation Center for Cagayan Valley region, particularly Cagayan, Isabela and Quirino.
“So, nakita ninyo po na nakahanda ang DSWD. while we continue to respond to areas that have been affected by Typhoons Nika and Ofel, patuloy pa rin tayo na nagpapadala ng mga karagdagan din na mga family food packs not just as a response action but also as part of our prepositioning para talagang lahat po ng mga mangangailangan ng tulong ay atin pong mapapahatiran,” she said. |PND
