Posted on by Jaymante Pearl Apilado

A 2-storey warehouse building worth PhP41 million will start its construction by September 2021 after soil testing.

DSWD Regional Director Marie Angela S. Gopalan together with Governor Matthew J. Marcos Manotoc graced the groundbreaking ceremony at Barangay Camanggaan, Laoag City.  She mentioned that this ‘relief hub’ can contain a maximum of 50,000 family food packs and other non-food items. It includes an office, staff quarters, and meeting rooms which are necessary  for an operations center (OpCen) during disaster response.

Groundbreaking ceremony of the DSWD warehouse at Camanggaan, Laoag City, Ilocos Norte graced by lot donor Virgilio Corpuz (2nd from left), Governor Matthew J. Marcos Manotoc (middle) and DSWD Regional Director  Marie Angela S. Gopalan (in red vest).

The construction of the warehouse was made possible by the funds  allocated by Senator Imee Marcos  and Senator Edgardo Angara, and by the 2-hectare lot by  Mr. Virgilio Corpuz, a private citizen.

DSWD Secretary Honorable Rolando D. Bautista in his message said he is looking forward to the establishment of the DSWD warehouses because “sa pamamagitan nito, masisiguro  na ang food and non-food resources ay sapat sa rehiyon at sa kalapit na rehiyon. Naglalayon ang warehouse na maipataas ang kapasidad at mapabilis ang produksiyon at pag-imbak ng mga relief items ( the warehouse will facilitate faster production and increased capacity of relief stockpiling, thus, we are assured of enough food and non-food resources for Region 1 and nearby regions).”

He especially mentioned the donor of the lot by saying “nais kong magpasalamat kay G. Virgilio Corpuz para sa kanyang kabaitan sa pagbibigay ng lupa na pagtatayuan nang nasabing pasilidad (I thank Mr. Virgilio Corpuz for his kindness and in donating a lot for the facility (warehouse).” Ilocos Norte Governor Manotoc thanked Sen. Marcos and the DSWD by saying “I am very happy and proud  of this new warehouse that we will be building. Thank you DSWD for the initiative, the assistance and the follow through. We know that this warehouse will serve us well since there will always be a need to safely keep different types of relief goods”. The Governor also mentioned his support “rest assured that I and the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte will do whatever we can to back up this very worthy project and we look forward to a continued and robust collaborative partnership with DSWD.” (Iryn D. Cubangbang, IO II, Social Marketing Unit)