Posted on by Jaymante Pearl Apilado

(L) Department of Social Welfare and Development – Field Office 1 (DSWD FO 1) Regional Director Marie Angela S. Gopalan checks the prepositioned relief packs inside a satellite warehouse located in the City of San Fernando, La Union during the height of Typhoon Maring. (R) Personnel from the DSWD FO 1 prepare relief packs to be distributed to requesting local government units which were greatly affected by Typhoon Maring.

SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union, Oct. 14 – Amidst the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic community quarantine, the Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office 1 (DSWD FO 1) ensured that relief resources are available, ready for augmentation and distribution.

These resources will be provided to provincial and local government units (P/LGUs) and shall be distributed to the families who were greatly affected by Typhoon Maring which hit the Ilocos region on Monday.

“DSWD is fully equipped to assist LGUs because we have prepositioned goods in our satellite warehouses in the provinces even before Typhoon Maring reached the region. It is now ready for distribution to the victims of the typhoon,” said DSWD FO 1 Regional Director Marie Angela S. Gopalan.

RD Gopalan said that on October 12, a quick response fund of around P5.091 million as standby funds is readily available.

As of to date, a total of 52,854 families or 218,070 persons covering 493 barangays were affected, and damaged houses reached to 1,290 and 61 partially and totally damaged houses, respectively.  

Aside from this, data received on displaced populations reported that 4,216 families are now being assisted by the LGUs inside the evacuation centers while 3,894 families are aided outside of the centers.

“We have 24,687 available family food packs (FFPs) amounting to P12.59 million and non-food packs to cover the affected families,” she added.

DSWD FO 1 employees and volunteers prepare relief packs in a satellite warehouse located in the City of San Fernando, La Union. These food packs will be distributed to requesting local government units’ affected families due to Typhoon Maring which hit the Ilocos region recently.

The FFPs include six kilos of rice, four cans of corned beef, four cans of tuna, two cans of sardines, five sachets of instant coffee mix and five sachets of cereals.

Moreover, the non-food packs prepared are 4,839 family kits; 2,455 hygiene kits; 3,914 kitchen kits; and 3,838 sleeping kits and 23 portable tents.

“Our employees and volunteers are instructed to be on a 24/7 watch since Monday to check on possible relief augmentation to the LGUs as well as on a skeleton workforce to repack the relief goods for the next few days,” added RD Gopalan.

Furthermore, she said that the DSWD Central Office is also set to supplement the FFPs, if needed.

A total of 1,000 FFPs are now bound for Sta. Maria, Ilocos Sur is expected to be distributed within the day. Other requests for augmentation to P/LGUs are being processed.

RD Gopalan also said that through this, the Bayanihan spirit lives and is a testament of the agency’s battlecry, ‘May Malasakit’.

The DSWD FO 1 works with various partner regional line agencies such as the Office of Civil Defense, Department of Public Works and Highways, the Department of Health, Philippine National Police, Philippine Naval Forces Northern Luzon, Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine Information Agency, LGUs and media practitioners to deliver its relief services. (By: Anne Hazel Fajardo-Flores, Social Marketing Officer III, KALAHI-CIDSS/ Social Marketing Unit)